


Fallen

by satheon



Series: Fallen [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, I'm not tagging this for archive warnings, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Rosewick - Freeform, You know what you're getting yourself into, rosewick-relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-04-11 16:35:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 45
Words: 55,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4443626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satheon/pseuds/satheon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two weeks after the events of Volume Two, Roman Torchwick escapes from prison. Ruby Rose thinks he deserves to go back, but when circumstances change, will she really be willing to hand him over to the government?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Torchlight

Ruby strolled down the cobblestone, strutting to the beat of her music, bouncing with each step. Her red cape billowed in the wind behind her like a proudly waving flag. The spring breeze brought the sweet smell of flowers to her nose. Lively energy came off of the students that congregated in Beacon’s beautiful, blooming courtyard. The warm afternoon reminded her of walking along the boardwalk that looked out onto the ocean in Patch during summertime. The sunset was always amazing, pink and orange dancing across the waves. Here, the sunsets gave flowers a golden glow and highlighted stray tendrils of hair, making everyone look like they were angels. Ruby pulled her headphones off of her ears and wore them around her neck. She smiled ear to ear as she listened to the birds chirping overhead.

Everyone regularly spending their weekends here always enjoyed the tranquility, never getting used to how it feels. Underneath a massive canopy of trees that towered above, younger students played a game of ultimate Frisbee. Where the leaves split only to let thin rays of light through, a group of girls lay in a circle, watching the trees sway with the wind. Other people walked along the paths cutting through fields of green grass and flowers in bloom. Those people talked around fits of laughter and smiles, stopping occasionally to admire the sunset’s colors.

At this time of day, the courtyard was bound to be filled up. Ruby had to look over her shoulder every five minutes to apologize for whipping someone in the face with her cape. Maybe coming out in her gear wasn’t the best idea, especially when nobody else bothers to wear much more than t-shirts and shorts. Ruby couldn’t help but feel that Crescent Rose was getting in everybody’s way as well. When gradually became darker outside, Ruby started to head back. On Saturday nights, most people had dinner plans inside the city, so a whole bunch of students went back in the same crowded direction she was going. Maybe she could sell her team on going into the city tonight. After all, they deserved it.

It’s been almost two weeks since Roman Torchwick was arrested for bringing hundreds of Grimm into the city, but it took a while for everyone to get over it, regardless of the fact that the damage was cleaned up in a day. It shook everyone up, even the transfer students who hadn’t heard about the incident until the next day. But no crimes have been committed under the name of the White Fang since his arrest, so everyone started to feel safe again. Now that everything’s finally back to normal, Ruby wanted to go celebrate being alive.

Ruby skipped merrily back to Beacon Academy’s dormitories, ready to enjoy her night.

 ~~~~~

In the inner city, Yang talked about going somewhere that had some excellent burgers. Weiss debated that a place in the fancier part of town might be worth trying, but she conceded when Yang pointed out that no one had any clothes suitable for such a place except her. Yang wasn’t wrong, either—Ruby only had one bite of her burger, but she could have sworn right then and there that it was the best thing she had ever tasted. Weiss, wearing white clothes, grumpily ordered a salad to prevent spilling food on her dress.

Yang giggled in between bites of her double-decker burger, “Maybe you should’ve worn something that wouldn’t stain easily!”

Weiss whined something about only getting one kind of fork, and Blake smiled. Looking at her eyes, Ruby was glad to see that her under-eye circles were almost gone. Plus, she smiled! This night was turning out to be great.

“Yang, why would we eat here when we have the opportunity to enjoy finer cuisine?” Weiss huffed. She crossed her arms so delicately that when she crossed them, her arms didn’t touch her chest and her pinky fingers stuck up.

“Um, because there is no finer cuisine than this?” Yang said, letting the statement hang in the air like a question, almost as if to ask what brand of crazy she was. The burgers are pretty tasty.

“Please, burgers are disgusting.” Weiss leaned back, rolling her eyes.

                Yang slapped both of her hands on the table, making Weiss jump. Yang appeared astonished, offended, to hear someone say that. Slowly leaning forward, Yang spoke low, “What kind of person,” Yang paused, raising her voice, “ _doesn’t like burgers?!”_

                Weiss retorted, “someone who can afford to avoid them.”

                Yang couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What are you?”

                “Hopefully, normal.” Weiss sat up in her chair, leaning forward to challenge Yang.

                Yang broke out into fits of laughter that got the attention of everyone in the restaurant. “Okay, sure, whatever,” Yang giggled. She wiped a tear away from her eye just as the waiter placed the check in the middle of the table, which didn’t make sense at first because they were all still eating food, but then Ruby looked out to see everyone’s judgmental stares focused on them. Blake snickered.

Yang offered to pay for everything—knowing Yang, probably just to flirt with the waiter—and the four of them started on the walk back to Beacon. Weiss wouldn’t let go of the fact that Yang shadily refused to explain where she got the money to cover everyone’s meals and that Yang already told her she didn’t have a job. Yang threw her hand up in the air, wrists encircled by her Ember Celica. “I’m just saying, you don’t need a job to get money.”

“But _how?_ You must have broken the law!” Weiss retorted.

Yang shrugged her shoulders in response. Weiss puffed out her chest and crossed her arms.

Ruby turned to look at Blake. She could’ve sworn she’d laughed, which only meant one thing: Blake was finally enjoying herself.

Until they passed a TV store.

Weiss stopped everyone to watch the TV in the display, which flashed the words “Breaking News” on the screen. Ruby held her breath when she saw the next frame: Roman Torchwick.

_Roman Torchwick has escaped from prison._

Ruby couldn’t believe it; that’s impossible. He can’t escape. Clips from a security tape were shown next, featuring an explosion that destroyed an entire wing. Ruby’s jaw dropped to the floor.

_In this section of the prison, criminals follow a different rotation, and they are not allowed to go outside. The explosion that killed every criminal in this building left Roman Torchwick untouched. Detectives conclude that Roman Torchwick has indeed survived as no traces of his body have been found in the building’s charred remains. If you have any information regarding Roman Torchwick’s whereabouts, please do not hesitate to contact the authorities._

Only Yang had words: “Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, fellow Rosewick trash! I wanted to clarify something real quick: Roman was arrested on a Tuesday, but the events that take place in this chapter happen on a Saturday, about eleven days afterwards. I don't know if that was clear or not.
> 
> Yeah, I know, this chapter was pretty frickin' short. I'm gonna work on getting longer chapters in--don't worry!
> 
> Until Next Time,  
> The Queen of Trashiness


	2. Labyrinth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I said I'd make chapters longer. Ugh.
> 
> Have faith, my friends, for we shall venture into the dark void that is Rosewick together!

Ruby took a deep breath as she stood before her friends, nervous to make her proposition. She knew it was a wild card, but she knew it was hopeless if she attempted it alone. Looking out the window, she could see that the sun was still up in the sky, not even setting. If they acted today, they could hope to make visible progress by dusk.

Weiss spoke up before Ruby did. “So, what’s this all about?”

Ruby inhaled deeply, scared of how her friends might take it, “We need to go after Torchwick.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Blake’s back straightened, her eyes brightened.

“Ruby, we—” Yang started.

Weiss cut her off. “No.”

Ruby raised a finger, ready to protest, but Weiss crossed her arms and shook her head. “No. It is _way_ too dangerous.”

“What about last time?” Yang spoke up. “We ended up fighting Torchwick in one of the Atlas fleet’s brand new Paladins.”

Weiss turned to her, gesturing wildly. “And that is _exactly_ my point! We were lucky that fight ended in a draw. If it weren’t for your semblance, Yang, he would have killed you! In fact, it was the only reason we were able to walk away that night.”

Ruby, Yang, and even Blake all tried to interrupt, knowing that it took more than Yang’s temper to take him down, but Weiss continued. “That was only when it was detective work. This time, we’re going on a mission, a manhunt, for Roman Torchwick’s head. Who’s to say that whoever was there to break him out of prison won’t be with him when we find him? _If_ we find him.”

Ruby never considered that Torchwick had an accomplice. Ruby stopped to think while Blake took advantage of the lull in Weiss’s statement.

“That shouldn’t stop us! Torchwick is dangerous. We know that for a fact,” Blake shouted.

Yang raised her voice as she stood up. “Blake’s right. I was prepared to sit this one out when Torchwick was just stealing dust, but now that’s he’s hurt innocent people, I can’t let him walk free like that.”

Blake nodded. “Neither can I.”

“I can’t believe that you’re all prepared to risk your lives over this,” Weiss grumbled.

“That’s the duty of a Huntress,” Ruby recited, almost incredulous. She knew Weiss couldn’t fight her on this. “He’s hurt the innocent, defenseless people we swore to protect. It’s our duty to make sure that he never does it again.”

“But we’re not ready!” Weiss exclaimed.

“I think we proved that we were ready when we didn’t die that night, fighting Torchwick in an Atlas military-grade weapon.” Ruby raised her head. “We’re a team. So if we’re doing this, we’re doing it together.”

Weiss hesitated for a moment, and then silently nodded her head. Everyone was in agreement, then. Torchwick’s going down.

“All right, then,” Ruby said, all seriousness. “Let’s hatch a plan.”

 

~~~~~

 

                While Weiss and Blake were leaving for their separate destinations as soon as school ended, Yang was going through Ruby’s clothes. She pulled out a black dress, turning to Ruby.

“This is the sexiest thing I can find in there,” she said.

“That’s my favorite!” Ruby said happily.

Yang shook her head and haphazardly threw it back in the drawer. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered.

She moved to her own dresser on the other side of the room and started going through her own nightwear. “We need to blend in with the people that want to party on a Friday night. If you don’t show skin, you’ll stick out.” She started throwing dresses and gear over her head, mumbling things to herself.

“That one shows my knees,” she defended.

Yang turned back to her with a shocked expression and spoke with a sarcastic tone. “How _scandalous!_ ”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “I get that we’re sneaking around and stuff, but what’s wrong with going in what we usually wear?”

“The bouncers know my face, and I don’t want to be spotted from across the street. You, however,” she gestured to what Ruby was wearing, “want to avoid being told by the bouncers that you don’t look old enough to be in there.”

“Hey!”

“I’m just saying—no one over twenty wears tulle.”

Ruby twirled the material at her cuff around her fingers. “Okay, fine, I get your point, but I won’t fit in your clothes.”

“Relax, it’ll be fine.” Yang finally settled on a dress that appeared somewhat presentable and showed it to Ruby. “What do you think of this one?”

Yang was holding up a red dress with a cowl neckline and black embellishments at the dress.

“I don’t know,” Ruby said.

“Try it on,” she suggested.

Ruby wrapped her hand around the hanger. Yang turned back to her clothes and dug through rounds of ammunition.

Ruby stripped off everything, including her gear, leaving a tank top and spandex shorts underneath. She held it up and tried to put it on, but she couldn’t fit it over her shoulders.

“I’m having a problem,” Ruby said, fabric muffling her words.

Yang turned around and laughed. She pulled the bottom half down over her chest, and stretched what was left to fit over Ruby’s head. Yang took a step back and examined her with a scrutinizing glare. She reached forward to adjust the neckline, but it must not have looked right.

Yang came to a conclusion and waved her hand. “Take that one off. It’s not going to work.”

Ruby grunted as she tried to figure out how to get it off when she struggled to get it on. Yang sighed and pulled it off her and asked her to put it back on the hanger.

Yang quickly produced another dress: a small, black number that didn’t seem to cover much. She Ruby took it in her hands with what she hoped wasn’t eagerness and started to pull it over her head before Yang stopped her.

“You’re gonna need to take off the tank top,” she said.

Ruby shot her a look and obliged, throwing it to her side of the room. Pulling the bottom over her head was a challenge, but the bust was easy. Ruby smoothed it over her lower half and tugged at the bottom, hoping her spandex wouldn’t show.

“What about this one?” she asked.

When Yang turned around, the most absurd expression crossed her face. She broke out into fits of laughter.

“What?” Ruby demanded, suddenly embarrassed.

“Look in the mirror,” she giggled.

Ruby stood in front of the vanity on her side of the dorm and blushed. The front of the dress sagged. In contrast, the dress was super tight around her stomach and her butt, with a piece of fabric coming down to her thigh on the right side of her reflection. The v-neck, which looked more like a slit down the middle of a perfectly good dress, ruined the whole effect, making her look as young as she was.

“Is it supposed to be this way?” she asked.

Right behind her, Yang said, “No, but these pieces,” Yang grabbed the corners of the neckline and held them away from her chest, “are supposed to stick up like this. I guess,” she snickered, “you don’t have the chest to hold it up.”

“Stop laughing!” Ruby blushed.

Yang grabbed a chunk of fabric and pulled it to a spot between her shoulder blades and clipped it. “That’s better.”

Ruby had to admit, the dress looked pretty good, but _she_ still looked like a child playing dress up with her mother’s clothes. Yang noticed as quickly as she did.

“We’re gonna have to fix this,” she determined, pinching Ruby’s cheek.

Ruby frowned. “Did you have to put it that way?”

Yang raised her hands in the ‘don’t shoot’ position, rephrasing her words, “I just meant that you don’t wear makeup.”

“Well neither do you,” she defended.

“I don’t have the same youthful look you do, and yes I do. It’s just not obvious or gaudy.”

Ruby growled. “That’s a way of putting it.”

“Trust me, you’re going to look that way your whole life. It’s what’s going to make you look 30 when you’re 40.” Yang sat her down in the chair and opened her makeup box on the table. Ruby got a little dizzy when she saw the extra compartments folding out of it. “Be happy that you don’t look your age like the rest of us. It’ll help you later, especially when people are going to be looking for your baby face tonight.”

Yang looked at Ruby’s reflection in the mirror. “Should we dye the tips of your hair black?”

Ruby protectively covered the ends of her hair. “No way!”

“Relax, I just mean temporarily.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“…How temporarily?”

“The dye comes out completely in five washes. Because your tips are permanent dye, they shouldn’t be affected.”

Ruby looked back at her own reflection. It might help to erase any identifiers. “Yeah, okay, I’m cool with that.”

Yang walked back to her dresser and pulled out a box of hair dye.

Ruby turned, surprised, “How long have you had that for?”

“I’ve been waiting to spring it on you for weeks. I’ve just been looking for the right opportunity.” Yang tried to conceal a smirk.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You have a really edgy haircut. I just think having it all black would seal the deal,” she said. “Now I finally get to find out for myself!”

Ruby turned back to the mirror as Yang adjusted the curtains for better lighting. The sun was setting outside.

“Will we have enough time?”

“Of course, this’ll take at most one hour, and Junior doesn’t even let people in until dusk.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, this chapter is just as short as the last one. *sigh*
> 
> Classes start soon, so updates might be a little slow. I hope to make chapter updates more frequent if I can't make them longer.
> 
> If you want to ask me questions about anything, hit me up on tumblr: satheon!
> 
> Until next time,  
> the Queen of Trashiness


	3. Fate's Descent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know about you, but I am trembling with anticipation.

When Yang swerved into an alleyway, Ruby was confused. Junior’s nightclub wasn’t anywhere near where Yang stopped her engine and took off her helmet. Ruby pulled herself off the back of Yang’s motorcycle, shaking her head to rearrange her hair the way she wants it.

Ruby awkwardly got off Yang’s motorcycle, trying to keep from flashing unsuspecting strangers. She almost made it out the door of her dorm room, but Yang saw the lines of her spandex when she walked behind her and made her take it off. Ruby felt just as uncomfortable wearing her lady stilts, clumsily trying to put her heel down before her toe. That they were in an alleyway wasn’t helping, but it didn’t seem to make any difference to Yang.

She was wearing a similar getup, but Yang straightened her own hair in order to prevent Junior from recognizing her so easily. Yang looked effortlessly beautiful—mature, even—wearing a plum dress that went halfway down her calves. Yang knew how to walk in these better than Ruby did, even going as far to claim that she could sprint in them. Yang turned around and looked at Ruby.

“So help me god, stand up straight,” Yang snapped.

As soon as Ruby did, she stumbled. Yang reached out to steady her.

“You can’t do that kind of stuff in there or you’ll draw attention.”

“Why don’t we just switch shoes?” Ruby groaned.

“Ugh, alright.” Yang leaned on her bike as she stepped out of her shoes.

Yang took her hand when Ruby held it out to steady herself. She lifted her feet off the ground to dislodge them from her heels and handed them to Yang. She put them on without looking while Ruby squeezed her feet into Yang’s wedges. Thankfully, Yang’s feet were only a half size smaller.

“Okay,” she said. “You know the plan, right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know where the door is.”

“Well, I guess it won’t kill us if we both walk together. Chances are, Roman Torchwick himself isn’t going to drive by tonight—or anywhere for that matter.”

Yang walked ahead of Ruby and out of the alley, turning right before Ruby thought to follow her. Thankfully, Ruby was able to move faster and put down her feet more confidently in Yang’s shoes. Yang stepped into the street without checking for cars.

When Yang said, “This is it,” Ruby walked right for the front door of a small office building.

“What are you doing?” Yang hissed. Yang gestured for her to come back to her, whispering, “You really think an illegally run nightclub is going to have a front door?”

“Illegally?” Ruby repeated.

“Junior doesn’t have a business license. He has a criminal past.”

“Seriously? What did he do?”

“I don’t know, but don’t ask about it or bring it up in there.”

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to say anything in there,” Ruby remembered.

“You aren’t.” Yang stopped thirty feet away from a door on the side of the building that looked more like a service entrance than anything.

“So the deal is that it’s underground, so don’t walk up the stairs.”

“Okay,” Ruby said.

“It’s camera monitored, so the bouncer won’t let you in unless you do this right.”

“Okay, what do I do?”

“Walk directly down the stairs and do _not_ look for the cameras.”

“Alright.”

“Only one of the doors down there is real, so don’t open the others. Bouncer will kick you out.”

“What do you mean?”

“They look like doors, but it’s just fancy wall. The door handle won’t turn or anything.”

“Okay. Which one is real, then?”

“Sixth floor. Don’t worry about counting. The doors are labelled. I don’t feel like I need to tell you this, but the correct door is marked with a six.”

“Okay.”

“When you see the bouncer, make eye contact and nod. He won’t open the door for you, so keep moving. Don’t hesitate or make him think that you’re a child, and when you walk through the door, don’t look up. That’s a dead giveaway. No one wants tourists under the same roof as the operations that go on down there. And remember: keep your chin high and _stand up straight_.”

“Got it.”

“Okay.” Yang looked back at the door. “You remember the plan?”

“Yes.”

“And you have the gun I gave you?”

“Yes.”

“Show me.”

Ruby opened the right side of her leather jacket and pulled it out so only her grip on it was visible.

Yang nodded. “Alright. I’ll see you later.” Yang walked toward the door and went in.

Ruby looked down at her scroll and set a timer for five minutes. She didn’t have anything to do for five minutes except shift her posture from leg to leg and twiddle her thumbs. Ruby started reviewing the plan in her head.

After Yang talks to Junior, they’re going to head down to the warehouse district about a mile from here and investigate. According to Blake, the White Fang’s rally was held there in one of the buildings, though it might be cleared out since Blake and Sun were found out. Yang deduced that because the rally took place so close to Junior’s place of business, he was working a little more closely with Roman Torchwick than he let on.

Ruby checked her watch. _Thirty more seconds,_ she thought. Ruby wondered what she would do if someone actually recognized her. Given that a lot of shady things happen here, having someone recognize her probably wouldn’t be a very fun time, especially since every single time she’s encountered a criminal, she was wielding a person-sized scythe. _I’m probably hard to forget,_ she thought.

Ruby didn’t even check her watch when she walked toward the door herself. Resisting the urge to turn around and look for the camera she knew was watching her, Ruby opened the door and walked through.

The first thing she noticed was the smell. It was dank, and it reminded her of the time Jaune was puking his guts out on the ride to Beacon all those months ago. Ruby would have never imagined herself doing undercover work in an underground criminal hotspot. Ruby took the railing of the stairs in her hand and began to descend, carefully placing her feet on the steps. Ruby was thankful that Yang let her trade shoes because she would never have been able to get down these stairs in pumps.

Ruby made it down to the sixth floor, steeling herself with a deep breath before opening the door. When she walked in, the dim light threw her off, and she barely saved herself from stumbling. She found the bouncer sitting behind a desk regardless, making eye contact with the man who looked eerily similar to the man robbing a dust shop when she first met Roman Torchwick.

Instead of dropping everything and confronting him, she nodded. He nodded back and looked back to the monitor he sat in front of. Ruby kept walking until she was past him, turning at the last second to allow herself a peek at the screen. Like Yang said, someone was watching the stairs.

Ruby turned back around and opened the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So freaking excited to write the next few chapters :) I'm giddy with excitement over what's going to happen. I hope you guys enjoyed this stupid fucking cliffhanger because for me, it was so annoying to write this one.
> 
> Gotta go, my browser's really trying to kill me right now.
> 
> Sincerely yours,  
> The Queen of Trashiness


	4. The Price of Gold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This chapter is a bit longer (why am I saying it like it's a bad thing?). That's because I didn't write in any cutaways (or need to, really). I just went back to school, so I'm loaded with assignments and other assorted wonders fresh from hell. I'll be pretty busy this first semester. That means you might not see me updating as often as I'd like, but don't worry, I won't resort to updating every six months. I want to finish this before Season 3 airs, which is less than 4 months away!! :D Regardless...
> 
> This chapter takes place on Thursday night, so the night before the events of Chapter 3.   
> Enjoy! :)

Roman looked over at the dusty old clock sitting on his nightstand. It’s 10:00 PM.

After he escaped from prison, Cinder dropped Roman in one of his old apartments. No one kept it maintained in the time he was gone—three years—so Roman stepped lightly in the off chance any vacancies had been filled since he left. So far, no unwanted visitors were spotted.

Roman sighed. Neo was supposed to be here an hour ago. He should have expected this—she is often late. He wondered if she went to his old address, in which case, she would have pulled a 180 and went straight to Cinder for his new residence because his old place was bound to be swarming with cops by now. In hindsight, forged documentation probably wasn’t a great way to rent. Thankfully, Cinder said she removed any incriminating evidence before the cops could show up to break down his door.

Roman instinctively placed his hand on top of his nightstand for his scroll, groping the splintering wood when he didn’t initially touch it. That’s right—he wasn’t allowed to have one. One of the boys from work lent him some books, but Roman guessed he didn’t notice that he was handing him editions that were translated into another language. The only book printed in English was a book on the history of Vale, incidentally a subject he hated in school. He might have made it past the first ten pages if it wasn’t for the extremely small font.

Roman sat up on his bed. Some of his old belongings, like his memory foam mattress and down comforter, were still here. Someone replaced the wallpaper, though, and whoever did it threw out his oxblood for orange and red stripes. It was _hideous._ Roman would love to throw his younger self from three years ago down a flight of stairs just like the next person, but at least he had a sense of style. Apparently colorblind people can be interior decorators, too!

Roman heard a knock on his door. Neo.

He picked himself up off the bed and trudged to the front door. When he opened the front door, a short girl who stood lower than Roman’s shoulders walked right in, ducking her head to walk under his arm. Neo set her parasol on the kitchen counter and held both of her hands up.

_Sorry, I had the wrong address,_ she signed.

“How’d you figure it out?” he asked.

_Detectives at the scene._

Roman groaned. “I’m too popular for my own good. You want a beer?”

_Hell yes. I had a bad day._

“You and me both.” Roman took a step toward the kitchen, but Neo beat him to the fridge, pulling out four cans of beer and a bottle of rose champagne.

“Hey, no,” he objected, “that’s for a special occasion.” Roman pulled a chair in front of the counter. He knew that Neo would drink it either way, but he still felt obligated to say it.

Neo set the bottles where he was sitting and turned back to the cabinets to get wine glasses. After selecting two of the biggest he owned, Neo placed them on the counter next to the champagne.

_Stop wasting time waiting for the perfect opportunity._

“I get a sense of accomplishment that way.”

_Getting drunk on overpriced sparkling water gives you a sense of accomplishment?_

Roman scowled at her. “So what are we drinking to, then?”

_How about escaping death?_

“You mean Cinder’s magic trick the other night?” Roman asked as he popped open a can of beer.

Neo shook her head.

_I heard the detectives talking about the possibility of your execution. Ironwood submitted a request before you escaped._

Roman paused before taking a drink. “Damn. You would think the man would just give it a fucking rest. Can’t he see that I have more important things to do?”

Neo rolled her eyes.

“So, what’s Cinder’s take on all of this?” Roman asked flatly.

_She doesn’t know. It hasn’t been approved yet, but apparently, the council’s about to give the O.K. on it._

“The last time we renewed the lease on this place in the past two years was last week.”

_What’s your point?_

“Isn’t that setting off a red flag?”

_I never would have expected to hear you say that. I always asked you these kinds of questions._

Roman grunted in frustration. He didn’t know what his next move was, and that was a feeling that always threw him off his game. “Do you think I need to get out of here?”

_I thought you were going to flee the city. I was surprised that you stayed, and in your old apartment, no less. I’m sure that if Cinder thinks it’s fine, you’re fine._

 “Yeah, but now that I think about it, cops might figure out that I’m here.”

_Should I tell her?_

“No,” he sighed, “I wouldn’t want Cinder giving you the I’m-the-fucking-boss talk. I’ll figure out what to do. Forget I said anything.”

Neo rolled her eyes and opened a can of beer, drinking in silence.

When Roman finished his drink, he got up to put it in the trashcan under the sink. “I think I’m gonna go to bed now. When you finish, please clean up. I don’t have a guest room, so if you want to crash, you’ll need to do it on the couch.” As he turns to his bedroom, Neo nods out of the corner of his eye.

Roman closes the door behind him, locking the door as he pressed him thumb and middle finger into his temples. This isn’t good, he thought. If he gets arrested again, Cinder might not be able to break him out in time. But if he wants to stay on Cinder’s good side, he will have to keep going out and risking his neck to do her dirty work. He shouldn’t even be in a situation like this. What the hell happened to him?

“Execution?” Roman muttered, his voice trembling with rage. His hands were balled into white-knuckled fists pressed against his door. Knowing Neo could hear perfectly well, Roman restrained the urge to scream like a wild animal and throw stuff around the room, but he knew he couldn’t stop himself for long. Roman couldn’t find words to say, so he stood there, breathing quickly and shaking his head.

Roman started angrily stripping off all of his clothes and throwing them as hard as he could on the bed. The gloves. The coat. The shirt. The pants. All of it went onto the bed, whipped against the comforter with as much force as Roman could exert. He kicked off his shoes, sending them flying into the wall. When they made contact with the wall, Roman felt the slightest twinge of regret, but he decided not to give a fuck. Neo’s seen worse. Though the walls, Roman heard the door to his apartment opening and closing. Thank God she knew when he’d want her to leave, but what does it say about him that he was pushing away the people he cared about with his violent outbursts? Roman didn’t know. He didn’t care.

When Roman was in nothing but his underwear, he marched into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He turned the dial it to the highest heat setting it had with one hand, fumbling to take off his socks with the other. Roman walked back to the room and stomped on the carpet. He wished he had hardwood floors; he’d be able to feel the pain as validation of the boiling rage in his chest. Roman walked over to his walls and started smacking the god awful wallpaper with the palm of his hand. His fingers subconsciously curled into a fist, and his knuckles connected painfully with the wall. He made a dent, but if he threw some money at it, he could have it fixed.

When Roman saw steam wafting out of the bathroom door, he hustled inside and threw open the door to the shower. He stepped in, but jumped back when the scalding-hot water made contact with his skin. Holding his breath, he stepped back under the stream. Roman clamped down on his bottom lip so hard that he drew blood. He turned around and pressed himself against the shower walls to bear it on his back instead. He opened his mouth and shouted for ten seconds, counting off in his mind. His skin almost felt like it was melting off of his body. Roman wanted to shout louder, but his vocal chords scratched against each other. He reached zero in his countdown and threw himself out of the shower.

He read somewhere that long, hot showers work well to calm someone down, but he needed to feel a dopamine rush now, not later. He kneeled down beside his bed and tried to control his breathing. He sat there for ten minutes, using the last shred of restraint he had to sit still. When he felt calm enough to behave properly, he spoke evenly, “That is the last time you think about your execution.”

He pulled off his underwear and belly-flopped onto his bed, letting the air dry his red and raw skin. This is his fault, he realized. Sure, he may have ended up in a tricky position because of the people around him, but it was his choice to associate himself with them. Cinder, Neo, Junior, all of them. Some came with unforeseen consequences, but he didn’t care. Sometimes, Roman hated doing this, telling himself that everything was just a consequence, but it was the best way to ground him after an unhealthy bout of blaming the world for the shitty hand he’s been dealt in life.

However, it did make sense—nothing felt better than attributing the success in life to his own hard work, especially when life treats him unfairly. It reminds him that he’s actually quite accomplished. He rose from a shitty childhood to a cushy lifestyle in only three months after he graduated from high school. He felt so far away from the hellhole he grew up in even though it was only about thirty miles from where he was right then. Sure, Cinder had to offer him his position in order for him to live like this, but otherwise, Roman would have found some other way in with his quick-wittedness and paramount intelligence. In fact, the only reason Cinder picked him up was because he’d gained quite a bit of street cred growing up in outer Vale. Getting on Cinder’s radar wasn’t sheer luck.

Roman especially loved to tell himself that Cinder was keeping him in the dark because she knew how smart he was. She didn’t want him getting more out of it than he was promised. He knew he could, but Roman knew better than to push his luck with Cinder. He may have a higher IQ, but she is definitely faster on her feet, better in a fight. Roman would underestimate a lot of people, but never Cinder. Not for a second. If he did, it might be the last thing he’d do. Besides, sticking with Cinder for the long term and living the good life was probably better than blind-siding her once and running off with a pot of gold.

Roman knitted his brows together in frustration. Then again, not knowing what lay in front of him never led to anything good, so maybe it’s in his best interest to figure out what Cinder planned.

He thought about all of the dust robberies. What’s she going to do with a mountain of dust? Roman knew that Cinder embedded dust in her clothing and used it as her primary weapon, but she occasionally switched to her semblance in special circumstances. Even so, she would never need that much dust. She’s very conservative of it. That’s probably not the case, then. However, she does know plenty about dust, and she did assign him ultra-specific coordinates to move the whole lot of it to the other side of town. He’s seen it—that much dust could be enough to blow up a stadium. But that wouldn’t do much damage unless the population in that area was dense…like in the Vytal Festival.

That isn’t good, he thought. If Cinder is willing to resort to terrorism, then she may also be willing to sacrifice Roman’s autonomy in the process. Cinder spent five years on preparing for the execution of her plans. She’s spent five years plotting out her moves, preparing for her finest hour. Roman knew only one thing for sure: whatever she’s planning is going to change everything.

Roman crawled off of his bed and walked out into the living area. Neo was gone (and so was the alcohol), but in the place of her parasol, she left a note.

_I forgot to mention: Junior wanted to talk to you tomorrow night about your game plan. Like me, he’s not excited about the idea that you’re staying in town, so he wants to hear it from you that your head’s on straight. He said to go at 7:00 PM sharp so he can sneak you in without worrying about witnesses. Don’t be late._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep forgetting to mention this: if you want to ask me questions about the story, how soon I'll be updating, or my personal life (I don't judge), you can message me on Tumblr. (satheon) Hell, you can even nag me about updating! Trust me, it'll help me to put out the chapters on time. If you message me off anon, I'll follow you either from that blog or on my personal because they're linked. I'm probably only going to post updates or Rosewick-related stuff on there. 
> 
> Until next time,   
> The Queen of Trashiness


	5. Watch Where You're Going

Roman sighed. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”

Neo removed her hands from Roman’s scalp. _No matter how well you disguise yourself, people will take one look at your hair and know exactly who you are._

Roman grunted in agreement. “Show me the box again.”

Neo wiped her hands with a towel and handed the empty box of hair dye to Roman. She crossed her arms loosely and waited for Roman’s inevitable response.

After examining the shade of the hair for the tenth time in the past five minutes, Roman frowns. “This is way too light.”

_No, it’s not. This brand in particular displays a shade lighter than it actually is, so the trick is to buy something three or four shades lighter._

“How would you know about this? Isn’t your hair naturally like that?”

_Yeah, but I didn’t like how puberty was treating me._

“When did you start dyeing your hair?”

_Around four years ago._

“So when we met—”

_Shut up._

“You hadn’t been through puberty yet?”

Neo paused, putting her hands on her hips. _To be fair—_

Roman burst with laughter, hearing his chair creak under him.

 _Asshole._ Neo swatted him on the head and pushed his head back down to the sink quite forcefully.

“I always thought you were one of those flat-chested sixteen-year-olds with a resting bitch face.”

Neo squinted her eyes. _Watch it._

“Okay, okay,” he resigned.

Neo squirted more hair dye out of the bottle onto her hands and slathered it onto his hair until she deemed it sufficient. She rinsed her hands in Roman’s sink and proceeded to rinse the rest of the formula down the drain.

Roman touched a strand of his hair and held his fingers up in front of his face. “How long does this need to be in?”

_Give it about 20 minutes._

“What do the directions say?”

 _30 minutes, but screw that. I’m a professional._ Neo turned around to wag a finger at him. _Plus, that’s including the time it takes to put it in, and you kept asking a mute person to see the box._

Roman threw his hands up and snickered when Neo rolled her eyes.

“Then what should we do for 20 minutes?” Roman asked.

Neo cocked her head to the side, drying her hands on a towel. _Talk about your obvious devotion to Cinder?_

Roman knitted his brows. “Devotion? Neo, the only thing about her I’m devoted to is her money.”

_You’re staying in the city. Why didn’t you run?_

“Neo, let’s be honest—I can kill people, but I can’t kill monsters, which means I can’t live outside the kingdoms. Not safely, at least. That means the only feasible option I have is to hide inside within the kindgoms’ reach, which is better and worse in terms of safety.”

Neo frowned. _Either way, you decided to stay inside the kingdom that’s charged you with several felonies, not the least of which including several armed robberies that caused Vale’s economy to crash, and yet you decide to stay within Vale’s borders. You could have easily sought asylum in Vacuo or something._

“Neo, let’s be honest: General fucking Ironwood wants me dead. Vacuo wouldn’t cover my ass if he personally demanded my release, and he’s made it very clear that he would.”

_In that case, I feel like you’re sitting in plain sight._

Roman looked up at her face. “You trust me, right?”

Neo nodded slowly.

Roman closed the distance between them and ruffled her hair. “I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

 _Okay._ Neo smoothed her hands over her head.

“Anything else you need to accuse me of tonight?”

Neo’s face lit up. _Oh! That reminds me..._ Neo ran out of his bathroom, running back in ten seconds later with a carton of milk. _Put this on your back in the shower. It’ll help with the burns._

 

~~~~~

 

“What’s up with your hair?” Junior raised an eyebrow quizzically.

Neo put a hand over her mouth to hide her smirk.

Roman pointed to Neo. “Ask her.”

As Junior sat down at the booth, Neo shrugged. Junior chuckled and set his drink on the table.

“You doin’ alright?”

Roman slouched. “I haven’t been out in public for three weeks. This is uncomfortable.”

Junior swirled his wine glass on the table as he thought. “Roman, I’m not happy with how things have turned out.”

“What do you mean?” Roman quirked an eyebrow and touched a strand of his hair. “You don’t like the color?”

Junior shook his head and kept his eyes fixed on his drink. “No, not that. That you’re staying here under something as trivial as Cinder’s orders is worrying me.”

“Not you, too,” sighed Roman.

“Roman, I want you to rethink the whole situation. Please.”

“I have everything under control.”

“You might be able to pull that bullshit on Neo, but I know better. Cinder is unpredictable as fuck.”

Neo made a face at Junior, crossing her arms across her chest.

Roman started, “I get how you’re thinking, but—”

“—clearly, you’re not.”

“I’m necessary. Cinder broke me out of prison.”

“Oh please. That could mean several bad things.”

“She cares—”

“What? Since when does Cinder care about you? If you weren’t working for her, would she be around? Would you think of her differently?”

“No, our relationship is purely professional…” Roman suddenly realized what the both of them were trying to hint at. His head shot up. “Do you two think I’m in love with Cinder?”

 _You_ did _say once that you had a wet dream about her._

Roman’s eyes widened. “I only told Junior about that!”

Neo clapped both of her hands over her mouth in realization of her mistake. She removed one and signed, _sorry._

Roman set his elbows on the table and clenched fistfuls of his hair. “You two are unbelievable,” he muttered.

“So at the very least, you find her attractive?” asked Junior.

Roman felt heat in his cheeks. This was unbelievably uncomfortable. “I don’t know what to tell you—she has legs up to _here_ and boobs out to _there._ How else do you expect me to react?” Wait, what did he just say? Was that how he was justifying his actions?

Junior pressed his palm to his forehead.

Roman tried to correct himself, “But I would in no case risk my life for Cinder’s agenda.”

“I think,” Junior realized, “that you already are.”

Roman raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“From what Neo’s told me, you’re staying in one of your old apartments, right?”

“Yes.”

“And the lease hadn’t been updated in two years?”

“Yes. Red flag, I get it.”

“I don’t think you do. The Roman I know would cut and run the _second_ —” Junior slapped his hand on the table for effect “—the cost outweighed the benefit. So unless you hit your head in prison, I have to assume that there’s a decent payoff.”

Roman opened his to mention the details, but when he thought about what he was supposed to get from Cinder, no words came out. “Cinder isn’t giving me any figures right now, but she’s been promising me quite a few figures since I agreed to keep working with her two years ago.”

Junior’s eyes shot up. “Two years?” He turned to Neo, who nodded in affirmation. “This operation has been going on for two years?”

“Yes.”

“Shouldn’t she have an estimate by now?”

“She’s never been specific about it. Though, I didn’t expect her to have a dollar amount when her plan was just a brainchild.”

“But she should now, right?”

“I don’t know. I’m told I’ll get a lot, but I guess my cut depends on how these events play out. And like usual…” Roman gestured to Junior.

“…she isn’t telling you anything.” Junior’s brows drew together. “You can’t trust her, Roman.”

“And she can’t trust me.”

“Apparently, she can because you seem to be ready to be strung along to the very end. What makes you think she won’t double-cross you?”

Roman raked a hand through his hair. He never really considered she would do something like that. “Fuck.” Roman wanted to be able to say something in defense, but he had nothing. “Oh shit.”

“Are you finally starting to see my logic?”

Roman shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Oh yeah.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I need to think about it. But for now…” Roman raised his hand and waved it in the air until a waitress in a short, black dress sauntered over.

Hardly skimming the menu in the middle of the table, he decided: “I’ll have whatever your most expensive scotch is.”

Junior smirked.

Roman watched her as she took the order down on a notepad with shaky hands. When she finished, his waitress quickly walked away.

Roman waited for her to move out of earshot. “Junior, your girls know that this place is underground territory, right?”

“Every single one. Why?”

Roman turned around and looked over the edge of the booth. She had disappeared from sight. “Never mind,” he muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's official, everybody: I am trash. The time is currently 11:58 PM, and I still have work to do. I feel like I owe it to you guys for not publishing on the weekend, but I gotta stop with this "I guess another all-nighter won't kill me" bullshit. If you guys want to know when I'm most likely to publish, that time would be any day from Friday afternoon to Monday night. Bye guys!
> 
> P.S.: When Neo was referring to "how puberty was treating her," she meant that her hair color changed during puberty. In my headcanon, she originally had dark brown hair, but when she got older, pink and light brown hair started growing in. When Roman and Neo met, her hair was dark brown. Neo's claiming her hair was the last thing to change.
> 
> Until next time,  
> The Queen of Trashiness


	6. In the Garden of Beasts

Ruby looked out on the dance floor from the second floor balcony. Even though she knew from the Beacon dance that strobe lights made picking particular faces out of a crowd challenging, Ruby expected to see Yang. A finger tapped her shoulder.

Ruby turned around and saw a woman behind her, jabbing a thumb in a customer’s direction. He waved his hand eagerly in the air, garnering the attention of not only the waitresses but also the customers around him. The people at his table seemed particularly annoyed with him.

Ruby took a deep breath and approached the table, a notepad in her hand. As she came closer, he took the menu from the middle of the table and began reading over the choices, a frown beginning to mar his features. When he finally decided, he slurred, “I’ll have whatever your most expensive scotch is.” Across the table, one of his friends snickered—did he know how much that costed?

Ruby almost wanted to ask, “Are you sure? That’s really expensive,” but she remembered the one of the rules Yang gave her: no talking. Instead, she hastily scrawled down the order on her notepad and stumbled off.

She quickly made way for the stairs, examining the note on her paper. Her hand must have been shaking terribly—the note was poorly written and hardly legible. Ruby probably should have stopped to write it again, but she wanted to draw as little attention as possible.

Ruby reached the ground floor, packed with people. As she pushed through the crowd, Ruby wondered how she would make her way back upstairs without spilling alcohol on everyone. At the bar, a man in a suit was retrieving a bottle on the second shelf from the top. She made her way behind the bar as he came down, bottle in hand. When she saw his face, Ruby realized with a start that he looked eerily similar to Torchwick’s men in From Dust Till Dawn a while back, but then she remembered that Yang investigated this place a month ago for that exact reason. Yang saw a connection between Torchwick and these guys’ boss, but the first time she talked to him, she thought he was holding back, so she decided “third time’s a charm!” Ruby decided not to ask Yang what she meant by “third time.”

The man in the suit looked at her with a confused expression until she raised the paper to his face. He pushed his glasses further down his nose and squinted at it, nodding at her when he deciphered her lousy handwriting. He moved the ladder to the far side of the wall and climbed only two rungs to reach a boxy, glass decanter filled with brown liquid. He poured a glass halfway and handed the drink to Ruby in an outstretched hand. Carefully, she took it from him, picking up a napkin on her way out of the bar.

For a brief moment, standing behind the bar, Ruby held the napkin in her palm and looked at it. The design looked like an orange and red gradient, but if Ruby looked closer, she could see that it was just two colors very close in hue to each other, seemingly the same color. Ruby sighed and stepped out from behind the counter.

Ruby wove carefully through people, yelling “Excuse me!” even though she knew no one could hear her. She kept her gaze trained on the drink in her hands, trying like crazy not to spill it. Ruby felt relieved when she reached the stairs.

Ruby hustled to her customer’s table and set the napkin down, followed by the drink. As she turned away, Ruby caught a glimpse of the man’s face. His face was contorted with what can only be identified as irritated suspicion, but why?

Ruby remembered her sister telling her that the government had no idea that this establishment even existed, so it naturally became the perfect place for anybody who wanted to avoid the law.

Does that mean she just served a criminal?

Her heart began beating at an irrationally faster pace, urging Ruby to find someplace safe. Without thinking too much about her choices, she made way for the bathroom, hoping to settle the nauseating wave of panic that washed over her. Ruby knew that she walked into the lion’s den, but she forgot that it meant interacting with them. Yang’s plan was such a stupid idea!

Ruby pressed her hands against the door, haphazardly pushing it out of her way, and fumbled for the scroll in her jacket pocket. After turning it on, she noticed that she had gotten a text from Yang.

“ _I can’t find Junior. Have you seen him on the top floor?”_

Ruby unlocked her scroll and typed up her message: “ _I don’t even know what he looks like._ ”

Ruby turned off her phone and set it face down on the counter, looking at her own reflection. At first glance, she didn’t recognize anything about herself…except for her silver eyes. Ruby is unique in that way: no one else had the light, grey tones in their eyes like she did. Unfortunately, that meant that without a doubt, people could pick her out of a lineup even if she wasn’t wearing any of her signature red identifiers like her cape or her scythe. Ruby could only pray that her enemies latched onto the things she wore rather than the color of her eyes or the shape of her haircut.

The thought of walking back outside made her sick. Too sick.

Yang sent Ruby a picture of Junior’s face. It was blurry, but it was just clear enough to make out the features of his face. Looking at Yang’s photo snapped back the memory of the man snickering at his friend for ordering whatever had the highest price. If he was the club owner, that he knew just how much it would cost him made sense.

Ruby quickly responded. “ _I saw him on the second floor in one of the booths._ ”

Yang responded only seconds later. “ _Who was he with?_ ”

“ _I don’t know._ _I didn’t recognize them._ ”

“ _Take a picture._ ”

“ _Yang, are you insane? I’m surrounded by criminals!_ ”

“ _Just do it discreetly. You’ll be fine._ ”

Ruby wanted to text back, but she grumbled to herself, knowing that Yang would keep pressing until she finally took the photo even though she strongly advised against it. Ruby growled under her breath as she hastily walked out of the bathroom.

Ruby realized how anxious she was the moment she stepped out of the bathroom. She was still carrying the notepad she pilfered from the kitchen, but she carried her scroll in her other hand. If anybody from the underworld saw her taking a photo of the people up here, odds are that they’d pitch a fit, and the fact that most of them would do something about it makes things even more perilous. Ruby cursed herself for thinking too much.

Ruby placed her scroll and her notepad in one hand, adjusting her grip so that the camera stuck out over the edge of the paper. The result was mildly discreet, but pointing a notepad at someone hardly seemed like a rational thing to do. Plus, if the head of the bar was talking with someone, Ruby could expect them to be the real deal, meaning the flash better be off when she takes the photo.

Ruby drew in a shaky breath and walked around to the booth she remembered him sitting in. She raised her scroll halfway, but she stopped when she saw that the booth was empty—Junior was gone along with anyone he was with. Or maybe not. Ruby lowered her head and travelled down the stairs as quickly as she could.

She texted Yang: “ _Junior’s gone. He’s not at the booth anymore, and neither is whoever was with him._ ”

Ruby prepared herself to act and look around for him, but Yang sent her another text. “ _We have to go. Now._ ”

Ruby came down to the bottom step, focusing her attention on the screen. She started to type, “ _What happened? Did Junior see—”_ but she couldn’t finish her text because she walked right into someone’s back. She stumbled back, tripping on the wedges and falling backward. Ruby’s scroll slipped out of her hand as her body made contact with the floor.

The man she bumped into turned around and silently offered his hand. She took it gingerly, keeping her eyes on her feet to make sure she wouldn’t fall again. Ruby quickly muttered, “Thanks.” Embarrassed, she moved away from him quickly, keeping her head down. His voice called her back.

“Wait!”

Ruby got ready to bolt, but he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. He was holding her scroll in his hand. “You dropped this.”

Ruby couldn’t stop herself—she looked up. Though dim, the light coming from her phone illuminated the edges of his face. Ruby quickly snatched her scroll from his hand and sped off onto the dance floor. She pushed aside crowds and crowds of people, suddenly spurred on by adrenaline and unfortunately, her semblance. When she felt she had enough cover, she deleted the message she typed up earlier, replacing it with another.

“ _Roman Torchwick is here._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this six times. It was so hard to get this one right! Agh, well it's done now, and I can finally rest. :)  
> That's all for now, my friends.
> 
> Until next time,  
> The Queen of Trashiness


	7. What's a Hero?

Ruby’s chest heaved with panting breaths as she crouched on all fours, collapsed in the middle of a street miles from Junior’s club. The expanse of road surrounding her was empty, but Ruby still had yet to quell the overwhelming tsunami of panic that overtook her the moment she laid eyes on Torchwick’s face.

Why was he there? Of all nights, why did he have to show up on the night that Ruby went? Ruby recognized that asking why a criminal was in a certain place at a certain time generally led to an answer she would not want to hear, but she didn’t care. What mattered was that it was happening; he was here, and now, Ruby and Yang had to deal with him. Oh crud. _Yang._

Ruby left Yang in the nightclub.

Ruby gathered herself in a sitting position and massaged her temples, waiting for her headache to abate. Ruby knows that Yang can handle herself easily against Junior’s thugs, but in a crowd full of innocent civilians, she might hold back. Ruby audibly drew in a sharp breath, wincing at the image of Yang getting hurt at the hands of their enemies. She had to go back.

Ruby slowly pulled herself onto her feet, feeling where her body protested with each movement. _Note to self,_ Ruby thought, _strengthen aura and learn to control semblance._ Ruby straightened out her legs and raked a hand through her hair to move the windblown strands of hair away from her face.

Ruby centered herself in the middle of the street, taking deep breaths. As she collected her composure, Ruby lowered herself to the ground and imagined starting blocks behind her feet. Her index and middle finger touched the ground as she prepared to break into a sprint. Feeling the sudden rush of energy in her limbs, she pushed off of her back leg and took off, leaving a vortex of rose petals in her wake.

Ruby’s skin buzzed with new life as she bolted along the street, buildings and lampposts blending into an indistinguishable blur. Her feet barely made contact with the ground beneath her, but with each step, her feet pressed off the pavement and sent her hundreds of feet forward within half a second.

When she passed underneath the highways to cut a straight path to her destination, exhaustion began to creep into her system. As a person who primarily fights with a scythe, Ruby never trained diligently with aura, and her uncle Qrow never pushed her to practice daily because there are only so many ways she could coordinate sudden bursts of speed with her attacks. She never trained to draw from her reserves conservatively for extended periods of time even though avoiding public transit would be a major plus. Unfortunately, tonight, without Crescent Rose, her inexperienced aura was one of the few things she had to fight with.

Ruby found the exit Yang took overhead and changed direction, an action that strained her joints—darn you, inertia. She slowed down upon approaching the club, coming to a full stop in the middle of a street she recognized. She walked around slowly, picking her pace up to a light jog even though lead weighed down her limbs. Her head turned to the right, and Ruby spotted Yang’s motorcycle. Just from the sight of it, Ruby knew that Yang still had to be in the club unless dire circumstances required her to find another way to escape. In either case, Yang was in trouble. Ruby almost ran past the alley but stopped herself, thinking that leaving some sort of indication that she was here might be a good idea. She quickly took off her shoes and threw them toward Yang’s bike, sacrificing the longevity of footwear for expedience.

Ruby jogged as quickly as her body would let her in the direction of the club while she tried to remember where it was and made split-second decisions when she came to a fork in the road. After turning the next corner, Ruby saw the door Yang stopped her from walking into about an hour ago. Ruby slowed to a walk and pulled out her scroll.

_No new messages._

Ruby texted Yang, “Where are you?” and put her scroll back in her pocket the moment she hit send. She bit her lip as she thought about all the things that could have happened to her sister, but she willed herself not to think about the possibilities in order to focus on her objective: finding Yang.

Ruby ran as fast as she could across the road without bothering to check for oncoming traffic. Except for the fatigue in her bones and the migraine that was quickly growing intolerable, Ruby felt capable of fighting even though the last time she fought hand-to-hand, she failed miserably. She slipped down the side of the building, found the right door, and wrapped her fingers around the handle. She prepared herself to throw open the door and barge right in, but before she turned the handle, she hesitated.

A lot of people are down there. Torchwick’s definitely stirred up some commotion by now, so walking in would definitely be walking right into a mine field. For all Ruby knew, he could be holding Yang hostage and waiting for her to come back. That wasn’t the ideal situation to be in, but if that was the case, then Ruby had no choice. Ruby squeezed the handle, but stopped again. She growled at herself, annoyed with her sudden caprice.

When has danger ever stopped her before? It didn’t on the night she met Torchwick. It didn’t on the night at the docks. It didn’t on the train, and it didn’t any other time she faced danger. Why was she so afraid now? Ruby remembered the image she saw on the news a week ago, and she remembered just how much it shook everybody up. It didn’t affect Ruby, though, at least not in the way it did everyone else.

Ruby’s grip on the handle loosened, and she considered walking away and succumbing to fear. Ruby silently scolded herself for thinking of something so ridiculous. But instead of telling herself that’s not what a huntress would do, she thought about what she would say to Blake and Weiss through sniffles and tears when she got back: “ _I could have done something! If I had just been there, maybe she’d still be here. Why do I have to be so weak?”_ She cringed. Those were the same words Ruby said when she learned of her mother’s death.

Biting back tears, Ruby forbade herself from ruminating any further and opened the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated since August? Jeez, someone punch me. Actually, on second thought, find me on Tumblr and send me anon hate. At this point, I deserve it for being so slow with updates. UGH, I hate being busy.
> 
> See you guys next time,  
> The Queen of Trashiness


	8. What's a Villain?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TRIGGER WARNING**  
> From now on, this warning will apply to the entire work.  
> There will be very slight gore, including but not limited to: blood, scars, and violence. I haven’t tagged any of this because none of the descriptions will be graphic, but I want to give fair warning to any people who might be set off by the mention of these things. I know from personal experience that most of the time, people don’t feel the need to be cautious, but setting me off proves to be ridiculously easy every time. So if the mention of blood, scars, or violence triggers you, then I advise against reading any further.
> 
> Thank you.

Ruby threw the door to the club open and took in the atmosphere. Even though the music blasted as loud as it did when she left, nervous expressions marred the faces in the club. From a glance at their movements, Ruby could tell that something shook everyone up. She scanned the room for anybody she recognized.

Roman Torchwick was nowhere to be seen, but several of Junior’s goons surrounded the entire crowd, scouring anxious twenty-somethings for one person in particular. Ruby realized with a start that the person they were looking for was her. Hastily, she ducked her head down and ran behind the few people on the outskirts of the floor.

A low voice boomed, “Has anybody found her yet?” His head towering over all others, Junior paced around his men, who shook their heads in turn. Junior sighed.

Ruby moved as discreetly as possible, sneaking glances at the middle of the room for her sister. Despite the fact that strobe lights no longer hindered her vision, Ruby had no clue where her sister was. In fact, not a single head of blonde hair hid among in the crowd. Yang might have been somewhere on the second floor, but finding a way up there without one of Junior’s men spotting her in a situation like this would not be easy, or possible, for that matter. Ruby’s heart skipped a beat when she noticed a particular person walking up to Junior like he was in charge.

“Where is she?” he demanded, obviously irritated.

Junior just shook his head instead of providing a verbal response.

Torchwick pinched the bridge of his nose, turning to face the door. “If Blondie makes it out of here, then Red will run straight to the police, and Ironwood’s going to have both our asses.”

To the police? Why wasn’t Torchwick looking for her? Did he know she already left? Well, apparently, he does. Ruby paused for a moment and remembered when Torchwick held her captive underground at Mountain Glenn; when he put his cane to her head, she used her semblance to get away from him. He probably saw rose petals by the door and connected the dots. In any case, Ruby was right about one thing: they were going to take Yang hostage as a means of getting Ruby back into the building. But what they didn’t know is that she already came back. If Ruby can find Yang before they do, they can sneak out while Junior still has his nose to the ground.

“No one’s getting out of here until we find her. Don’t worry,” Junior responded.

Suddenly, the music shut off, and all heads turned to the DJ’s station. Yang stood over the table holding a large, boxy bottle of clear liquid in one hand and a small box in the other. She popped the top off the bottle and poured its contents on the surface of the sound board. When she ran out of alcohol, she tossed the bottle aside and lit a match.

Knowing what she was about to do, Junior shouted, “Blondie, don’t!”

Yang threw the match on the equipment and ran. The surface quickly caught fire, spreading fire to the wires, which lead to the outlet. The equipment exploded, sending out a flash of heat that burned the surface of her skin even from across the room. For a brief moment, everyone in the club was silent. Then pandemonium broke loose.

 

~~~~~

 

Roman reacted faster than any of Junior’s mooks could have dreamed. He sprinted past all of them as they stood there, dumbfounded. He reached the station when Blondie lit a match against the rough edge of the table. She threw it down and ran, skipping over broken glass and running through people. Roman swore under his breath, turned away from the table and broke into a run. The explosion threw him forward, and Roman instinctively extended his arms to break his fall. He felt the heat searing on his back.

Pain shot up his arms when he landed on the floor, a sharp throb in . He looked over his shoulder to see the damage. The fire only spread to the chair, but without a doubt, it will burn Junior’s club to the ground if no one did anything.

When everyone started screaming, Roman realized Blondie was going to use the commotion as a cover. He didn’t see her, but he was almost positive that she was out the door and in the streets. He picked himself up off the floor and looked around. Everyone pushed and shoved, slowly moving closer and closer to the door. Only one person was moving in the opposite direction. Even with short legs, she ran like she was competing in a race broadcasted on every television all the way from Vale to Atlas.

Relieved and annoyed at the same time, Roman noticed a rose petal as it fell to the floor. Maybe there was a way out of this. He could use Red to force Blondie’s hand, just like he was going to do, but with their roles reversed. However, if their encounter went anything like their last few, then by tomorrow morning, Roman would find himself in a less than desirable situation, standing on top of a bucket.

When Red ran closer to where he was, Roman sprinted to intercept, sticking out his leg and tripping her. She rolled across the floor until she came to an abrupt stop, bumping her head on the stairs. She stood up quickly, but she had trouble keeping her balance, her feet shifting awkwardly. Roman watched blood trickle down her forehead as he drew a switchblade from his pants pocket.

Maybe the blood was throwing him off, but Red hardly looked like herself. She hardly seemed like a kid tonight, despite how short she was. Her eyes drifted up, locking on his with a hollowing expression. Roman thought up a plethora of quips about playing dress up or staying up too late, but Red disappeared the moment he opened his mouth. She reappeared delivering a left hook to the right side of his face. He stepped back, dodging the blow, and swung his blade at her elbow.

She cried out and stepped back, wrapping her fingers around her forearm. The cut itself couldn’t have been too deep, but blood soon covered her arm, dripping from her fingertips. She turned into a blur, bouncing from place to place, materializing in one spot and disappearing as soon as he found her. Soon enough, he lost track of her completely, and the rose petals, scattered all around him, provided no clue as to where she went.

All of a sudden, Red kicked Roman’s legs out from under him, and he fell on his butt. Roman started to sit up, but the sound of cocking a gun stopped him. Dripping blood on his clothes, Red stood over Roman, pointing a gun at his head. Instead of seeing Red and the determination in her eyes, he looked straight down the barrel.

Hardened and cool, her voice cut through the air like a knife. “Don’t move.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sleep? What's that? Is it a vocabulary word?
> 
> Goodnight, everybody,  
> The Queen of Trashiness


	9. Faith

                Lacing a vindictive tone in his words, Roman spoke evenly. “What, Red, are you going to shoot me?”

Red narrowed her eyes and readjusted her grip on the gun…were her palms sweating? Roman looked around and took in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed, aside from the gun pointed at his face, was how quickly the fire had spread. By now, it reached the bottom of the steps, burning up the wood flooring at an ungodly pace. Blondie’s pyromaniac behavior definitely decimated the sound system, but a gut feeling nagged that he needed to get away from it as soon as possible. The second thing was how slowly everyone was getting out; the crowd around the exit was as big as it was thirty seconds ago. That would be extremely difficult if not outright impossible to get around, meaning that if Roman wanted to escape both the fire and Ironwood’s grasp, he had to leave now.

And by the looks of it, Red was noticing, too. Her eyes frantically darted around the room every ten seconds, examining how far the fire reached, but she was smart enough not to turn her body in order to sneak a glance at the only exit in the building. Roman would have to talk to Junior about that. Anyway, Red didn’t have to look back. The unlucky people still trapped down here screamed their heads off.

When Red’s attention finally returned to Roman, she said, “No, I’m gonna turn you in.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “Yeah, fat chance.”

“What?” Red had already looked back at the fire, not letting her aim falter. Roman scanned her expression. Had she not realized yet?

Red turned back to Roman. “What are you planning?”

“Wouldn’t you rather hear a bedtime story?”

In response, Red took the safety off the gun, its metallic click resonating in Roman’s ears. Roman’s blood chilled, and his chest hollowed, but he refused to let anything show on his face.

“Why are you doing this, Red?” asked Roman in a condescending voice.

“You’re a monster,” she spat.

Roman sighed, detecting the sincerity of her words in her too honest eyes. “I’m no monster.”

Red opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by a sudden explosion. Roman threw an arm over his face and turned away from the flame.

The flamboyant, colorful lights shut off, replaced by emergency lights scattered throughout the club, lighting the way to the exit. When he looked back up, Red was gone, a few rose petals left in her place. Roman stood up, coughing as he remembered that she had a knack for speed. The air around him blackened with smoke, and suddenly he was too dizzy to stand. He stumbled forward, trying to direct his weight toward the door, but his feet were too slow and he fell on his front, barely able to put his hands out to break his fall.

Nearly soundless footfalls approached him, but he was too tired to lift his head to see who it was. Roman’s consciousness faded, and the world around him turned to black.

 

~~~~~

 

Ruby pushed past some girl standing in her way and grabbed a hold of the door frame. Ruby pulled herself forward and into the night air. She took a few steps away from the door and leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths in the hopes that she didn’t inhale too much smoke. Holding Torchwick at gunpoint may not have been the best choice, given the circumstances. When her migraine settled down to a tedious but manageable headache, she pushed herself off of the wall and sauntered in the direction of Yang’s bike.

Halfway across the street, Ruby registered someone calling her name. She looked up and noticed her sister charging full speed at her.

“Ruby!” Yang shouted before plowing into Ruby, nearly knocking her down. Wrapping her arms around her sister in a bone-crushingly tight embrace, Yang whispered, “Thank God, you’re okay.”

Ruby returned the gesture and wrapped her arms around her sister. Suddenly, the pain in Ruby’s arm sharpened and she winced. Taking notice, Yang stepped back and examined Ruby. Ruby figured that the significant amount of blood on her face, in her hair, and on her arm was worrying her.

“Don’t worry, it looks worse than it is,” Ruby mumbled.

“You’re still bleeding,” Yang said. She grabbed Ruby’s arm and dragged her all the way back to the motorcycle. Ruby didn’t look, but she was sure that she had nail marks in her skin.

Yang saw the shoes discarded by the motorcycle and picked them up. Lifting up the back seat, Yang threw them inside a compartment Ruby never knew about. That must come in handy. Yang pulled her scarf out and pushed the seat back down a little more forcefully than Ruby suspected she needed to.

Yang grabbed Ruby’s arm and started wrapping the scarf around the gash. Ruby was going to protest about how she was using her favorite scarf to cover a flesh wound, but Yang stopped her the second she opened her mouth.

“Don’t. You’re bleeding. A lot. I got out five minutes before you did. What happened in there?”

Ruby prepared herself to answer the question, but she remembered what happened. The strangest feeling overcame her, like she was hiding something from Yang. Ruby looked back at the burning building. The fire had yet to burn through to the floors above ground, but tremendous amounts of smoke floated out from within. Did Torchwick make it out?

Ruby shook off the thought as quickly as it surfaced. Of course he did. “When the guys in Junior’s club started getting jumpy, I tried to find you. I couldn’t until you light the DJ equipment on fire. I tried to get to you, but,” Ruby paused, taking a moment to fabricate, “everybody went crazy. I tripped and hit my head. I don’t know how I got this,” she lied, holding up her arm. Weird, weren’t cuts like these supposed to hurt? Yang gave her a suspicious look, but it quickly grew to concern.

Ruby started wobbling on her feet as she looked down. Blood had dripped from her head to her dress.

“Exactly how hard did you hit your head?” Yang asked, searching Ruby’s face for signs.

Ruby lifted a hand to her head where sticky, warm blood graced her fingers. As she felt it trickle down her palm, she realized she was still bleeding. Yang watched fresh blood ooze over the dried, caking mess on her face before pulling Ruby on the back of her motorcycle.

As she started the engine, Yang shouted, “Don’t let go, okay?”

Ruby nodded, her head pressed against Yang’s back, her arms wrapping tightly around her waist.

Yang put her motorcycle in gear and backed out of the alley. She set out for the highway, leaving the burning building behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this took a while! Sorry about my unexpected absence.
> 
> I know people hate A/Ns, so I'll leave it at that.
> 
> Until next time...


	10. Blur: Below Construction

Ruby woke up in a hospital bed in the on-campus infirmary. Kids usually came in here with sprained wrists or, worst case scenario, a few broken bones, but Ruby walking in—did she walk in?—must have looked really, really strange with blood all over her hair, her clothes, and her arm, especially if she was carried in. Students must have thought she ended up getting this hurt in a spar.

Bandages wrapped around Ruby’s sore arm, she raised her hand to her forehead, where a pad of gauze was taped over her forehead. When she prodded it with her fingers, the wound under it stung, but what she guessed was painkillers dulled the effect.

A nurse looking up from her clipboard turned to Ruby’s section and stopped. She reexamined her clipboard, using a pen to keep track of the words on the paper. When she found what she was looking for, she turned back the way she came, heels clicking on the linoleum floor.

Less than ten seconds later, Yang came speeding past the curtains, soon followed by Weiss, Blake…and Team JNPR, Sun, and Neptune.

Ruby strained to sit up, fighting the pain that lit up in her arm. “What are you guys doing here?” Ruby groaned.

“That’s a stupid thing to ask,” Weiss replied.

“Sorry,” Ruby said. “Standard question.”

“Are you alright?” Jaune asked, standing a little too close to Weiss at the foot of her bed.

Rubbing the back of her neck, Ruby nodded.

“Did Torchwick do that to you?” Blake growled. She stood with her arms crossed and her back straight, but her head drifted forward.

Yang turned back to Blake. “I told you: she tripped and hit her head.”

“What about the cut on her arm?”

Yang shot her a look, and Blake closed her mouth, clearly unsatisfied but silenced for the moment.

“Hey guys, we should let her get some rest,” Pyrrha suggested.

Everyone offered kind looks before turning and leaving. Weiss said, “Get better,” Blake offered a half-smile, but Yang stopped right before leaving and said, “Hey, if you ever need to tell me anything, you can tell me.”

Ruby looked at her hands in her lap. When she looked at Yang again, she smiled and walked away.

Ruby thought about what she told Yang outside that building, wondering what she could have said differently to make Yang believe her. God, Yang doesn’t even believe it. But if she doesn’t buy it, why is she covering for her?She felt wrong for lying to her sister, but she didn’t want to tell her about what really happened. If she told her, Ruby would have to tell Yang…Blake, no, everyone. But now, Ruby will just have to wait and see what happens next.

 

~~~~~

 

Roman woke up in Neo’s bed. He thought for a second that his eyes needed a second to adjust, but then he remembered that Neo is a cave troll who thought by painting all of the walls either oxblood or black, she would become the brightest thing in the room. Unfortunately, she failed to realize that in order to see, she would need to light a few candles.

Neo walked into her room with a box of pizza. Roman couldn’t see very clearly, but he was almost positive that she rolled her eyes the second she laid eyes on him. She sat down on the bed next to him, crossing her legs and opening the box. Roman reached for a slice—it was pepperoni, but he could deal.

Neo swatted his hand away. _Did you pay for this?_

“No, but you and I both know very well why I can’t order a pizza. I don’t get to enjoy it very often.”

Neo rolled her eyes. _Who do you think you’re talking to?_

Roman sat up abruptly, signing the words _Is anyone else here?_

_Just Junior._

Roman threw the covers off his legs and stood up. He was a bit dizzier than he usually is when he wakes up, but he’ll live. Wait, how did that happen?

He stumbled into the hallway, and saw Junior sitting at one of the tables swirling a shot glass on the glass table. Probably brandy.

“You should really get into scotch. It’ll kill you slower.”

Junior looked up from his drink. “The sleeping beauty awakens at last.”

“How long was I out?” Roman grumbled, looking down at his feet…and then at his chest. “And why am I not wearing a shirt?”

“Five hours, give or take. Neo suggested we cut off your shirt to get at the wounds.”

“What?” Roman twisted to look over his shoulder, seeing that there were, infact, burns on his lower back.

“Neo poured milk on ‘em and told me to clean up the mess. So if you want to get a bottle of beer or something out of the fridge, watch where you step.” Junior drank the liquid left in his glass, scrunching up his face, and reached for the bottle.

“Whoa, nice face.”

“You two, sweetheart. You must be really low on fuel if you can’t insult me properly. Grab a drink and take a load off.” Junior slapped the table next to him in an inviting manner, but when the glass clattered, he recoiled in surprise.

A moment later, Neo pounded her fist on the wall, and both Roman and Junior’s heads turned her way. Angrily, she signed, _Don’t do that shit! Not with your damn rings!_

Junior sighed heavily and Roman chuckled lightly.

When Roman made a move toward the fridge, Neo skipped over to the kitchen, signing, _Oh Hell no._

She made it to the fridge first and grabbed the handle, but Roman looked at her with an accusatory expression. “You stole my juice the last time you were at my place.”

Neo frowned, but she let go, and Roman opened the fridge to examine her collection. “What time is it?”

“Three o’ clock,” Junior called out.

“Damn. I wanted to say ‘It’s five o’clock somewhere.’”

“You still can,” Junior remarked.

“Nah, no fun.” Roman selected a beer from the bottom rack and sauntered to the table. As he sat down, he asked, “Has anyone heard from Cinder?”

Junior raised an eyebrow, and Neo signed, _Neither of us work directly under her. You’re kind of middle-management._

“Thanks,” Roman growled.

_You know what I meant._

“You expecting a call or something?” asked Junior.

“I just figured she watched the news.”

Junior shrugged. “It’s my place, not yours. Plus, you’re not carrying a phone.”

Roman took a deep breath and opened his beer. Everyone was quiet for a few minutes except for Neo grabbing a beer from the fridge herself and joining them at the table.

“What happened after I passed out?” Roman finally asked.

Junior and Neo exchanged glances. Neo tilted her head to the side with a yearning look, but Junior shook his head. Have they talked about this already?

Junior turned back to Roman. “We dragged you out, and that’s all we’re telling you.”

Roman’s brows creased. “What are you guys hiding?”

Neo looked back at Junior, but his expression didn’t change as he turned back to the bottle in front of him. Something looked off about Neo’s hands when she knitted them together. There was no tan line, but Roman could tell her ring was missing.

“Hey, Neo, did you lose your ring?” he asked.

Junior’s eyes flashed. He glared at Neo with an angry look in his eyes. “You _didn’t,_ ” he seethed.

Sensing that things were about to get tense and knowing that Neo could decimate Junior if things went sideways, he stood up from the table and chugged the rest of his beer. Roman would just have to hope that his friends had his best interest in mind. “Neo, can I take a nap on your bed?”

_Sure, but if you eat any of that pizza, I’ll kill you with my bare hands. I counted the slices._

“Of course you would, Neo.” Roman closed the door behind him. He thought about putting out the candles, but he might be grateful for those in the morning. Neo should consider a place with windows.

He flopped face-down onto her bed and let his consciousness drift away.

 

~~~~~

 

Roman woke up dazed, hearing the muffled echoes of a heated argument through the wall.

“Holy _shit,_ Neo! We agreed!” Probably Junior’s voice.

Roman waited for Neo’s voice before he realized that she doesn’t speak. Roman has known her for a long time. Why does he have to keep making that connection? Shouldn’t it be second nature by now?

“Save your loopholes for Cinder. You realize what’s going to happen, right? You know how Roman thinks. Everything’s fucked.”

He paused, silence on the other end.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. You _never_ lose that ring, and Roman knows it. Let’s just hope that Roman is stupid enough to make the right decision.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in the same 24-hour period? What is happening to the world???
> 
> Until next time...


	11. Dawn

Roman groaned for the fiftieth time this morning. Cinder dropped by earlier to tell Roman that he was slacking off the job. As much as Roman wanted to tell her that was a steaming pile of bullshit, he kept his mouth shut and got in the car with her. Roman left a note on the counter for Neo, but instead of the truth, his sloppy calligraphy read, “I went back to my own place. Thanks for the drinks.”

Cinder kept quiet the whole way, even in spite of the loud complaints Roman had about waking him up at the fucking ass crack of dawn. When they arrived in the construction zone of an apartment building, Cinder started talking.

“This is our new base of operations.” Cinder made a right turn, swerving into the parking lot. Roman was damn near sure that she did it intentionally because he refused to put on his seatbelt when she told him to.

“We just turned off of a public street. How is this covert?” Roman peered out the window and up at the naked, gray structure of the building. Almost every room was visible from where he was, which meant that everyone on the streets could see in if they just looked this way.

“The basement underneath is two floors deep and it spans wider than that building right there.” Cinder lifted a hand off the steering wheel and pointed out the window. “They originally planned to build two.”

Roman noticed her choice of words. “Originally?”

“The budget fell through. The cars over here,” Cinder gestured with a lazy sweeping motion, “belong to the company that wanted to build this thing in the first place. They’re on the first floor talking about what they’re going to do.”

“What, did you ask them?” Roman remarked sarcastically.

“Yes.”

Roman’s head jerked around. “What?”

Cinder scowled. “Of course I did. I’m not wanted by the Vale Police Department, and I wouldn’t be allowed in the building otherwise.”

“What about me?” Roman wondered if Cinder had a mask somewhere in the car. Aren’t those illegal in Vale?

“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.” She slowed down the car and maneuvered it backwards into a parking space, pulling as close to the fence as possible without touching it.

Roman knew this trick. “You couldn’t find a marked car?”

“Not on short notice.” Cinder pulled the key out of the ignition and opened the door.

“What happened?” Roman asked, wondering what new developments could have formed in a week.

As he got out of his side of the car, Cinder responded, “I need your expertise on a job.” It was hardly audible, but Roman picked up on the annoyance that tinged her voice. Was Cinder relying on Roman to do something?

Roman’s brows furrowed in thought. “A job with a timeframe. What is it?”

“I’ll tell you inside.” Cinder pivoted on her heel and strutted in the direction of the front office. Roman’s eyes scanned the parking lot for anyone that was watching. He was out in broad daylight, following anxiously behind Cinder, preparing for the possibility of being recognized.

But Cinder pushed open the front door, and no one was at the receptionist’s desk. Regardless of how barren and decrepit it was, no one was in the front office. Cinder marched ahead to the elevator, her chin held high, her hips swaying, and pressed the down button to the elevator. When the elevator bell chimed, Roman paced across the floor and followed Cinder into the elevator.

Chuckling under his breath, Roman glanced at the panel, which he noticed had buttons for forty floors. Cinder, assuming what he must have been thinking, growled, “Don’t touch any of those.” She chose the button labeled “G1.”

When the doors opened, the smell funneled into the chamber and hit Roman in the face. He stepped back, spluttering and reaching to pinch his nose shut. “God, what the hell are you guys doing down here?”

“Making bombs.” Not even scrunching up her face, Cinder gracefully walks through the elevator doors and turns down a hallway light through windows.

When Roman followed her, he saw what was through the windows for himself. At their own separate stations, men were combining casings of explosive cesium and powdered dust with wired contraptions. “What do we need those for?”

Cinder stopped at the end of a hall, opened the last door, and stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to enter. With what little he knows about the job, Roman wondered what exactly motivated Cinder to the point that she would seek out Roman’s help. I mean, heck, she probably needed it, but is Cinder not as arrogant as Roman thought her to be? Inside the room, Emerald, Mercury, and a guy that Roman did not recognize sat at a large, wooden table facing the humongous TV.

“The cavalry has arrived!” Mercury proclaimed, his arms outstretched and his gaze cast upwards.

“We need you to advise us on an important job,” Cinder explained.

“Which is…?”

Emerald leaned forward to pick up a small remote that fit in her hand. She pointed it at the TV and pressed a button, changing the slide.

Roman recognized the layout instantly. “The East Ordinance Bank. You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“We need money,” Cinder stated.

“Why in _hell_ would you choose the highest security bank in the most highly-populated area of Vale?” Roman exclaimed.

“We aren’t looking to rob the bank,” Cinder said, “Just one person in particular.”

The man whose name Roman did not know finally spoke. “Sidney Moore. He’s a con artist who embezzled money from the charity that funds research for a cure to letumosis.”

Last year’s epidemic, Roman remembered. “How much money?” Roman questioned.

“Approximately twenty million dollars,” Cinder responded plainly.

Roman’s head swiveled violently, garnering Cinder’s unfazed attention. “They only got fifteen million in donations.”

“I only showed you the official one ten months ago. In the black budget, they actually had sixty million dollars, but they only used ten million for legitimate purposes.” Cinder looked back up at the screen.

“Wait a second, where’s the money now?” Roman asked.

“Safety deposit box number 158,” Mercury replied with a bored expression. In his fingers, Roman noticed a key dangling from a chain.

Cinder crossed her arms. “Just let us explain what needs to be done, and we can get to asking what happens next. But for now, just listen.”

Roman sighed, but he nodded his head.


	12. Is It A Squish?

Ruby traced her fingers over the stitches on her forearm. The cut felt shallower at the time, but in just minutes she had been covered in her own blood. The doctor said a thousand times that she got lucky with the injury on her head: minor bruising, minor concussion. She only passed out for about five minutes and eventually got up and wandered around, acting as usual but never appearing in touch with the reality that she was injured. Ruby had no memory of it. She can’t remember if she said anything, which really sucks because she wouldn’t know how she would have reacted if someone had asked her about the fire. She remembers everything that happened. She remembers everything she saw. Plausible deniability only works for those who are capable of lying.

“Don’t touch it, it’ll get infected,” Yang snapped, appearing in the threshold to their dorm room with a fresh roll of bandages. Yang hastily walked up to Ruby and kneeled in front of her as she unrolled a strip of gauze. Yang pulled Ruby’s arm closer to her and started wrapping the gauze around it with a blank stare in her eyes.

“Hey,” Ruby sighed—she didn’t mean to sound so exhausted. “What did I say last night?”

Still focusing on what she was doing, Yang said, “Nothing important.” Yang picked up a roll of waterproof tape and tore off a piece with her teeth. After placing it on her arm to keep it secured, Yang stood up and wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand.

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked, shifting onto the edge of Weiss’s bed.

Yang shrugged. “You didn’t tell us about what happened at the club if that’s what you’re asking.”

Ruby fidgeted in her seat, looking down at her hands as they picked at each other. She looked up at Yang, who was pensively staring out the window.

“Yang?” Ruby interjected.

Yang’s eyes brightened and returned their focus to Ruby. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”

“Where’s everyone else?”

“They decided to stop by the store to grab some food. Someone said something about renting a movie, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen.”

“What movie?”

“Probably a love story, given that we sent the romantic half of the team to go do it.”

Ruby chuckled.

“Yeah, probably.”

 

~~~~~

 

Roman looked at his clock. “Set them for 3:35. Don’t turn them on again until I tell you to. Who’s in a group tonight?”

Glancing at the group of similarly-dressed men in black with masks pulled halfway down their faces, Roman noticed three hands held in the chilly air. He pointed and one and said, “Take out your scroll.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled up the time zone clock. As he held it up, Roman squinted to filter out the brightness, allowing his eyes time to adjust. _Fifteen more seconds._

Roman took a deep breath, reviewing the floorplan in his head.

He exhaled. “Five, four, three, two…” Roman set his watch into motion, watching as everyone else pulled their sleeves back over their wrists.

“Listen up, everyone,” Roman called out. We’re out of here by 4:00, or I will personally put a bullet in your head. Or I’ll tell Cinder, which will be much worse for your sorry asses.”  He pulled his mask over his head and reached for the gun in his waistband. The silencer, not yet attached to the gun itself, rested at the bottom of his pocket. It didn’t feel hot. It didn’t weigh on him. Something else was already doing that for him.

Roman mentally slapped himself. Getting distracted on a job is a great way to get dead. Bouncing his leg impatiently, Roman checked his watch. 3:36. _Four minutes._

Three people split off from the group to do some recon and preemptive measures. There shouldn’t be any problems. Vale’s capitol is a metropolis, but no one stays out until four in the morning. Not in this district, at least.

Roman looked at his wrist. 3:36. _Time will not go fast enough._ He bounced on the balls of his feet a few times and took the silencer out of his pocket. He screwed it on, thinking absentmindedly about the fire in the club.

“Get it off your mind, you fucking idiot,” Roman muttered under his breath. When it didn’t screw on any further, he briefly examined the profile before replacing it at his side. He took another look at his watch.

3:38. _Two more minutes._

Roman turned to the street, but the recon group wasn’t back yet. Fucking hell, how long does it take to look around and say “all clear”?

He turned to the rest of the group and shouted, “All right, who has the bolt cutters and spray paint?”

Someone raised his hand, but Roman didn’t make eye contact with him. “You’re up.” Roman gestured to the door.

He readjusted his mask on his head and walked over. The recon group came running back, one of them giving Roman the thumbs up. Roman put two fingers together and waved at them. “Go,” he whispered to the guy waiting under the camera with spray paint.

He held the can up, and Roman looked down at his watch, flattening him palm on the key in his pocket. _158\. 3:39._

“Done.” He handed the can off to someone else and approached the door with his bolt cutters.

“In and out in twenty!” Roman reminded everyone.

The lock snapped, falling to the floor. The door swung open and everyone followed the specific instructions laid out for them.

_Okay, let’s get started._


	13. Soul Akimbo

            Yang, Weiss, and Blake sat next to Ruby, who was lying down in the middle of their dorm room propped up by all the pillows that each of them had. Blake had originally wanted to rent a movie adaptation of a popular romantic novel, but Weiss contended that they should rent something else because the ratings were just way too low. They eventually settled on a rom-com that just stopped showing in mainstream theatres. Blake kept bringing up how rom-coms are stupid, stereotypical piles of fluff that will never really manage to connect with their audience. Despite how frustrated she was, she still ended up smiling at all the “fluffy” romance.

“Don’t go through her phone, loser! You’re never going to get laid!” Yang shouted, gesticulating vibrantly at Weiss’s computer screen.

Blake rolled her eyes. “It’s just a plot device.”

“And how exactly are nun-chucks _not_ a plot device?” Weiss retorted.

“That’s different—it’s just who they are.” Blake groaned and pressed her palms against her cheeks.

The corner of Weiss’s mouth turned up slightly. “What if going through phones is just who this guy is?”

“It’s not that,” Yang cut in. “He stole a car two scenes ago. This guy’s a total prick.”

“Speaking of total pricks,” Weiss muttered, “we can’t go after Torchwick anymore.”

Yang’s smile slowly dissipated into a blank stare that focused on the corner of a rug. She cast her eyes down and quietly traced the lines on her palms. Blake longingly looked to Yang for backup, but then she realized that who Torchwick injured on their last stunt was Ruby.

Blake admitted defeat. Their shenanigans had proven themselves dangerous in a very dangerous way, and she couldn’t ignore that. “You’re right. We weren’t ready. But that doesn’t mean—”

“Yes, it does. We should let the professionals with years’ worth of training and experience take care of these problems. Ruby may have gotten the upper hand in a fight with Torchwick, but if she had hit her head at virtually any other angle, she would have passed out from head trauma. We should count ourselves lucky that he wasn’t able to kill Ruby on the spot.”

Wait a second, Ruby didn’t remember telling anyone all of that. Crap, what else did she say?

Blake slouched and turned away from Weiss. “All right, fine, we’ll just lay low.”

Weiss met Ruby’s stare as it glazed over, pulling her out of her reverie. Ruby gave a slight nod, and Weiss allowed herself to release the tension in her body, taking a deep breath before reaching to press the play button on her computer. Just then, a knock on the door was heard, causing Weiss to halt.

“What is it?” Weiss called.

“Can I come in?” A familiar voice. Jaune’s.

“Go ahead. Door’s open,” Yang responded.

Jaune stepped in with his chin tucked into his collarbone, opening and closing the door in a way to prevent it from making an excess of noise. He leveled Ruby’s softened eyes with a sympathetic gaze that cut right through her tired thoughts.

Jaune’s voice floated soothingly into her ears. “Are you okay?”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, I’m much better.”

“What are you guys watching?” asked Jaune, noticing that they were all huddled around Weiss’s computer.

“ _Thieves Steal Hearts._ Wanna watch with us?” Yang patted the ground next to her.

Jaune shook his head. “Nah, we already got something going on in our room.” Jaune slid back through the door, waving goodbye to Ruby and her teammates. “See you guys later.”

“Later,” Ruby replied.

They continued watching for fifteen minutes before Ruby called it a night and decided to go to bed. Her friends protested, saying that she should see the ending—it’s _hilarious_ —but Ruby wasn’t even paying attention in the first place.

Ruby climbed up to her bed and flopped on her stomach. She pulled her pillow under her head and clutched it tightly to her chest as she drifted off to sleep.

 

~~~~~

 

When Ruby woke up, she had the feeling that she woke up in the middle of a good dream. She only remembered small details about the man she dreamt of—he was tall, and he had strong hands. She couldn’t remember what the dream was about, though. One phrase did stand out to her: “You don’t know what it’s really like.”

However, she didn’t like the sticky sensation of dread that weighed her down. She rolled on her side and looked at her friends. They slept with peaceful looks on their faces, and Ruby wondered what they dreamt about. She joked once that Blake dreamt of fish, but now, she wanted to know what her dreamscape looked like. Is the world perfect? Does she have everything she had ever wanted? Is everything the way she has always wanted it to be?

Is that what she fights for? Maybe that’s what motivates her, an image of how things could be better. Ruby understands Blake better than anyone else on the team. The both of them would fight like hell to protect their inner sense of justice, but the difference is that Blake already has, and she didn’t go unmarked. Ruby, on the other hand, has no battle scars to speak of. Or at least she didn’t until last night. Her fight was just beginning.

Ruby lifted her arm and looked at her bandages. Yang used white to be able to see whether or not they were dirty, but in her room, it was too dark to tell. She glanced at the clock in the windowsill. It was 3:45.

Ruby grabbed her scroll from the corner of the bed and lifted herself off the mattress. Slowly, she slid off, careful not to wake anyone else. Ruby grabbed her pillow and dropped it below her feet. When she let go of the sheets and fell to the floor, the pillow cushioned her fall, allowing her to get down without making a sound. Ruby threw her pillow back up to her bed and tucked her scroll in the waistband of her pajamas.

Ruby left their room and sauntered down the hall, yawning, stretching her arms over her head. She squinted to allow her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. At night, the lights in Beacon’s dormitories don’t go out. They’re only dimmed in case someone needs to use the bathroom—thank the heavens.

Ruby walked past the male facilities and straight into the women’s. The lights were _way_ too bright. When her eyes adjusted, she could finally see herself in detail for the first time since she left the infirmary, but it was just a passing glance as she washed her hands. Even so, she gleaned that as tired as she felt, she looked worse. She decided that she would spend the day getting rest, even if it meant skipping her classes. Or maybe, she should get back to routine as soon as possible.

Suddenly, Ruby’s scroll vibrated. She pulled it out and examined the incoming message on her lock screen.

 _From: Unknown_ “I need your help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I bet a bunch of you noticed, but maybe not the rest of you, so I'll lay it down right here: I post on both FF and AO3. I stopped posting on here for whatever reason, but I'm currently up to like 29 chapters. And I'm gonna post ALL of them today. Be ready, bitches.


	14. Blur: Above Construction

Roman instinctively tucked his head further into his body upon hearing bullets fired from their respective vessels. “Fuck,” he seethed, pushing another magazine into the grip until he heard it click.

He got off of his knees and moved along the fallen-over lockers staying as low to the ground as possible. The second round of explosives went off, and all Roman could think about when the ringing was reverberating in his ears was that those explosives were meant to go off at 3:50. Roman reached for his scroll, he had to tell Neo, but he just kept patting his pocket until he realized that it wasn’t in his pocket. Did he drop it? Shit.

Neo will figure it out. He was supposed to check in a few minutes ago, so she will know that something went wrong. Roman peeked out from behind debris to analyze the situation. Roman counted the people on his team who were trained to the point of being able to handle a situation like this. There were about fourteen mercenaries on this job. The last five were specialists meant to deal with the rigging of explosives. Roman didn’t know where they were. When they heard the gunshots, everyone on his team had scrambled to cover without regard for anyone else.

Roman caught a glimpse of a few of their attackers as they advanced into the room. He watched the way they moved, the way they knew where to go without saying a word to each other.

Mercenaries. Who the hell hired mercenaries?

Shit. They would have to throw the objective. Roman scanned the far side of the room for an exit. Looking over the large pile of safety deposit boxes discarded on the basement floor, he found the outline of a door. There wasn’t any cover from where he was to all the way over there.

Roman counted to three, then bolted off the ground, moving as quickly as he could to the other side. A sudden, splitting pain ripped through his shoulder, sharp throbbing tearing through his conscious ability to think straight. If Roman could have run any faster, he did, but having to open the door with his left hand slowed him down. He swung the door open as another bullet grazed his thigh. He cried out, but his own screams were drowned out by the constant yet inconsistent chatter of gunfire. The door closed on its own as Roman took to a nearby chair and propped it under the door handle.

Roman turned to face his new surroundings: a dining room with vaulted ceilings and a long, polished table. Kitchen, dining room…what was next to the bank? Roman strangely realized that he could no longer hear a single thing when he closed the door. The room was soundproof. Where was he?

Roman knew that something came out the front of his chest, but what happened in the back to make it this painful? He twisted his body and pulled his shoulder forward, noticing a shimmer among the gore.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Roman muttered. “Shrapnel bullets?” They really want to kill someone tonight.

Roman looked around the room and scanned for anything that might serve as a bandage or something to that effect. A napkin lying on the table might have helped, but there was nothing to keep pressure on the wound. In the back of his mind, Roman joked about picking up a knife and using that to cauterize the wound, but then Roman realized he didn’t have anything in the near vicinity. He looked down and saw the blood pouring down his leg, coming from the wound on his thigh. Weird, he hardly felt it. Roman knew how to read the signs.

He dove to the cabinets, looking for a napkin he could tie around his leg and something that could stop his shoulder from bleeding. Roman watched the blood drip into the crook of his arm. _Knife_. Why did that idea stick out to him? Roman looked back to the table where a knife hung out over the edge, casting a shadow on the tablecloth.

That’s it.

He jumped up and stumbled over, taking the knife in his hands. He estimated a sizeable chunk of fabric and started shredding it with the knife in his hand. His vision brightened to the point that everything was an annoyance. The black was too black, and the red was too fucking red. Everything that he saw, that he felt, that he heard made him want to throw up.

When the strip of tablecloth finally came off, he frantically wrapped it around his thigh. Now that he thought about it, his shoulder was probably bleeding much more than his thigh, but he was already tying the knot, and he probably would not be able to keep a bandage on it if he wasn’t holding it on there. He snatched a napkin off the table and pressed it to the wound just under his clavicle, grunting from the pain.

Shakily, he stood up, loosely holding the knife’s handle between his fingers. He felt fine enough to walk, but his head wasn’t keeping track of where the floor was, it was just focusing on keeping him up. Man, he really needed a doctor.

Down the hall, he heard a door creaking loudly as it opened and closed, followed by hushed footsteps. He couldn’t see anyone, but he heard those footsteps getting louder. Roman slid his feet across the door and hid behind the wall, waiting for whomever to come around that corner.

The footsteps drew closer, and Roman readied himself to attack right when he saw something. The silver end of a gun appeared, triggering Roman to spring into action. He grabbed his wrist, pulling him forward as Roman jumped on him and pinned his arms above his head.

He looked down to see who he was dealing with. It wasn’t a he.

Roman growled under his breath. “Hello, Red.”

Her face flushed, she leveled his gaze with hers. Her mouth twitched as she tried to find words. She couldn’t seem to settle on one word. Under his hand, hers tried to slip out from under. Roman was hardly paying attention—he was having the strangest sense of déjà vu. Have they met before? Red’s hand slipped out from under Roman’s, and Roman grabbed her wrist in preparation to break it, but he noticed something on her finger. Neo’s ring.


	15. Hope

_Neo’s ring. How does Red have Neo’s ring?_ Red’s face glistened in the low light. Her eyes bright with fear, she struggled to pull her shaking hand out of Roman’s grip, but he wouldn’t let go of her so easily. Wait a second—she lost this after Junior’s club was destroyed…or maybe while it was being destroyed. Roman’s face softened as he took a closer look at her expression. She seemed particularly interested in his scar, but she was probably concerned more with the fact that he wasn’t letting go.

Whatever the case, he understood what this meant: Neo only came in contact with her after shit went down in the club, which means he had to have given her the ring then. Neo trusts Red. And Roman is going to need a lot of help getting out of here alive.

He reluctantly loosened his grip on her wrist, and she eagerly slipped it out, cradling it in the bosom of her chest. Roman pushed himself off the ground for two seconds. Ruby followed, but he froze when he heard the clanking of metal on the carpet.

“Move, _now!_ ” He hooked his arm under her armpit and dragged her behind the table. Barely on her feet, she stumbled back and fell on her back. Roman dove on top of her and pushed her head into his chest. An explosion lashed at his back, reversing any healing that those burns had done in the past few days.

The pain made the moment last longer, but he knew that it was shorter than a second. He lifted himself up only a little before he realized he wouldn’t have the strength to do it. Red’s face got too bright. Everything got too bright. He felt like vomiting, and his blood ran all the way down his chest, his arm, and onto Red’s clothes.

Red noticed and slid out from under him. Roman would have collapsed if Red hadn’t grabbed him from behind and helped him to his knees. Roman turned to look over his shoulder. Red was unwrapping her scarf from her neck with frantic, jerky movements. When it came away from her throat, she approached him and started to wrap it around his shoulder.

“There’s no exit wound,” Red muttered.

“Shrapnel,” Roman drawled, his mouth hardly moving to form consonants.

“Can you stand?” she asked.

Roman nodded and moved to shift his weight off of his feet, but when he moved, he felt himself falling toward the floor. Red immediately pulled him back up, but he knew what this meant for the both of them. Wait, why is Red helping him in the first place? Roman’s head lulled back to look up at Red. She already looked like she was coming up with a plan. She wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled him to his feet.

“What are you doing?” said Roman.

Red said nothing in response to his question, trying to manage his body on her shoulders. “I can’t carry your weight on my own, so I need to keep you conscious. Tell me about yourself.”

“A grenade just went off, and that’s what you want me to do.” Roman stumbled forward in an attempt to keep up with Red’s slow pace. He was covered with his own sweat. A drop trickled down his temple.

“I just need you to make it out that door. That’s it. So just focus on that and let me worry about the rest.”

Roman adjusted himself so his weight was on her back. She held both of his arms out in front of him, gripping tightly to keep them from slipping.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked. Even with her support, Roman was finding it hard to take a step forward. Black spots were appearing in his vision, and the pain in his shoulder and his leg was starting to numb.

“I’m not going to tell you in here.”

“No…fair.” Roman’s breathing got heavier. “I don’t have…the time…to wait.”

“Please, stay with me,” she pleaded. Roman dropped his weight on Red completely. He couldn’t see anything anymore.

 

“ _Wake up! Help! Help!” Footsteps. “He passed out—I got him out as soon as possible…”_

_“Can you hear me? Oh my God, is he ever going to wake up?”_

_“No. I’m not leaving.”_

~~~~~

 

Roman inhaled sharply. His headache was the most pervasive thing in his perception right now. He reached up to touch his head, noticing that his skin felt abnormally warm. He hissed when he tried to sit up, flashes of pain shooting up his arm.

He was immediately pushed down. Whatever was blocking the sunlight moved, and morning light poured into his eyes. Whose place is this? Roman has windows in his room, but not a wall of them. His eyes adjusted and listed themselves upward.

“Red,” he mumbled.

“Stay down. You need rest,” she said.

When Red looked back at him, her cheeks heated up, and her eyes brightened. His eyes narrowed. Her back suddenly straightened, and Roman imagined a lightbulb over her head.

“You need pain meds,” she realized.

“No, stop,” he muttered. She didn’t listen. She kept sorting through a plastic box on the nightstand filled with gauze, waterproof tape, and other shit you could find in a first aid kit.

“Stop,” he reaffirmed, a little more sternly this time. She looked back at him with a sympathetic look.

“You’re in pain.” She found what she was looking for in a syringe. Probably not a first aid kit, then.

She pulled off the cap and flipped over his arm, exposing his inner arm.

“I said _stop!”_ Roman grabbed her wrist with his other good arm and faced her with a cold stare.

Red seemed confused. “Aren’t you hurt?”

“No pain desensitizers. None. I don’t care if Neo told you to do that.”

Red placed that cap back on the syringe and set it aside. Roman let the tension out of his face and rolled onto his side. “Don’t you have school or something?”

“I’m ditching.”

Roman flopped onto his back. “Just go. I don’t need a babysitter.”

Red looked at her hands as her fingers laced together. She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “That’s not why I’m here.”

What the hell is she doing here, then? “Then why are you—”

“You’re too important,” she whispered.

“What?” It occurred to Roman to joke about what she was saying, but he couldn’t quite believe what he’d heard himself.

“You heard me.” Red turned to face him. “You are too important. And you’re hurt. So swallow your pride and just let me do this.” Red picked up the drugs she set aside and repositioned his arm.

“No, wait,” he breathed. “I—” Roman paused. If he tried to tell her anything but the truth, she’d take it as him trying not to appear weak. Fuck. “I can’t have it.” He spoke low, barely heard.

“Why not?” Ruby asked. She seemed genuinely concerned but expectant of some sort of lie.

Roman turned the other way. “I’m an addict.”

“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Yeah.” Roman looked at her hands, awkwardly holding the medication in her hands.

“It’s just that…I can’t tell.”

“Look, we don’t have to talk about it, okay?” Roman tried to sit up.

Red pushed him back down to the mattress. “Then what do you want to talk about?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that I’m being held as your captive audience?” He sat up again. Red pushed him back down.

“You need rest.”

“No, I need to use the bathroom. How long was I out for again?”

Red glanced out the window. “All right.”

Roman rolled off the bed. “So where is it?” The view from the window suggested that they were in an expensive neighborhood. He knew this building.

Red turned in surprise. “What? Isn’t this your place?”

He shook his head. “No. I’ll have to talk to Neo.”

“She left earlier this morning to take care of business. I asked, but she didn’t give me an answer.”

“Good.” Roman got to his feet. “So what do you want?”

“What do you mean?” asked Red.

“I shot at you. Twice. You can’t honestly believe that I’m just going to trust you after everything that’s happened. Seriously, what assurances do you have that I’m not going to grab my gun and shoot you?”

Red pondered for a moment before answering. “I don’t know.”

“Then what are you expecting? Money? Intel? Oh God, don’t tell me that you wanna—”

Red’s face flushed. “No! That’s not—no, I would never—I wouldn’t even consider—”

“Got it. I won’t take it personally.”

Red nodded.

“I want to know.” Roman leaned against the doorframe. He didn’t exactly realize until now that he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

“Know what?” Red tried to keep her focus on his face.

“Why you saved my life,” he stated flatly.

“That’s a secret.” Red stood up and made her way to the door.

Roman stepped in her way. “I’m not letting you leave until you tell me.”

“I owed you, and I paid you back.” She stepped to his side, but Roman grabbed her arm and dragged her back into the room.

“What’s the hurry? You’re not rushing to get to first period, so you have plenty of time to tell me exactly why you decided to risk your life to save mine.”

Red stepped back as Roman stepped forward until she tripped over the rug and fell backwards. Roman kneeled at her side. She gripped the rug in balled fists.

“Relax, I’m not holding a gun to your head.”

“You don’t want to hear it.” Her voice shook, but the tone remained steady.

“Yes, I do. Just tell me. I’m not going to make you regret it.” Roman tried to make himself sound sincere, but it just sounded strained.

She took a deep breath. “I can’t.”

Roman set his jaw and looked out the window. The sun had already come up, illuminating certain sides of the city but casting shadows much longer than the buildings they came from. He stood up. “Then I think it’s time for you to go.”


	16. Simply Innocuous

Ruby braced herself against the bathroom counter. She got off at the wrong stop thanks to focusing too much on what happened at Torchwick’s place. All she has ever wanted since _that day_ was to meet him, the guy with the scar underneath his right eye. Today, no more than one hour ago, she finally got her wish. But she wasn’t brave enough to tell him why she cared so much. She choked, she ran out without saying another word, and he didn’t do a single thing to stop her. That door is probably closed forever, locked tight with the ugly secret that she kept.

She can’t do this on her own.

Ruby snatched her phone out of her pocket and dialed in Yang’s number, ignoring the long list of missed calls in her notifications. She started to shake again, feeling tears prick the back of her eyes. The call went to voicemail. Right, Yang was probably in class right now. “Yang,” Ruby stuttered, “I need to talk to you.” She quickly pressed end call and wiped the tears from her sticky cheeks.

She stood up and ascertained her reflection. Her mascara ran down her cheeks, and her red eyes puffed out. At least she made it out of the door before she let herself start crying. _Get a grip. Now._

Well, she wasn’t going to run into anyone she knew. She was too far away from the major cities in Vale. Actually, she didn’t know what she was doing this far away from Beacon. _Oh please. You know why you’re here._ Ruby steeled herself with a deep breath before she turned away from the mirror and shouldered open the door, letting the cool air blast her in the face. Train stations always regulate their air conditioning at hauntingly cool temperatures, and Ruby, who used the metro all the time when she was younger, was used to the feeling, but the sensation ripped shivers into her skin.

This is the first time she’s visited this particular train station in six years. Before she went to Signal, her family lived pretty close to this station. But then they moved, and Ruby had absolutely no reason to return to this wretched place until today, a day on which Ruby felt it calling to her like a voice in her head drawing out the masochistic child within her.

Ruby didn’t regret it. She didn’t regret any of it.

 

~~~~~

 

Ruby slid quietly through the door to her dorm room, shutting it as noiselessly as possible behind her.

“Ruby!”

Ruby jolted at the sudden interjection; she thought she was alone. Nope.

“Where were you?” she shouted. “We were worried about what might have happened to you!”

Ruby slowly turned around. Yang’s anger visibly dissipated into concern when she took notice of the black streaks on her sister’s face.

“Ruby, what happened? It’s almost dinnertime.”

Ruby replayed the day’s events in her head. The memories on their own punched her in the gut—talking about them would just make them more real, more painful.

“Is this about Torchwick?” Yang guessed.

Ruby’s eyes snapped back to her. “How did you know?”

“You told me when you were on pain medication,” Yang explained. “He had a scar shaped exactly like the cuts on that boy’s face. That’s what you told me, at least.”

Ruby nodded.

“Wait a second, were you at his place all day? Oh God, _please_ don’t tell me that you two were—”

“No!” exclaimed Ruby. “Holy crap, you’re the second person who suggested that today!”

“Wait so you _were_ with Torchwick this morning?”

“Yes,” Ruby admitted, “but—”

“And you’re telling me that you didn’t have sex with—”

“Yes, yes, yes! I’m only fifteen years old for crying out loud. Let’s just change the subject,” Ruby interjected.

“Age of consent is sixteen here, and your birthday is in, like, a month, so maybe you—”

“OH MY GOD CAN WE PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT IT,” Ruby shouted. Oh crap, people can hear anything through these walls.

“You didn’t go there to do that?”

“Torchwick has tried to kill me on three separate occasions. No, I did not.” Ruby collapsed on Weiss’s bed.

Yang pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. “So what happened?”

Ruby sighed. What could she tell her about? How she panicked when he asked about why she helped him? The things she found out this morning? Like where he lives?

“How about we start with the fact that your shirt is covered in blood?”

Ruby looked down. As much blood there was on the front, Ruby knew there was more on the back. He lost that much blood…maybe that’s why he let her leave. He was too weak to do anything else.

“Ruby, whose blood is that?”

“Torchwick’s.” Ruby pulled off her hoodie and threw it to the ground. She opened a dresser door and noticed the glint of Neo’s ring on her finger. She forgot to give it back. That’s going to come around to bite her one day.

“Holy shit, what happened?” Yang asked.

“I can’t really talk about it,” Ruby whispered.

“Why not?” Yang said, lowering her voice to match Ruby’s tone.

“I’m pretty sure I interrupted a robbery in progress. Was the East Ordinance Bank on the news this morning?”

“Yes. All of their safety deposit boxes were in the kitchen of an empty restaurant next door,” Yang pondered. “Torchwick was involved?”

Ruby nodded.

Yang furrowed her brows. “That wasn’t in the news report this morning. I don’t think they placed him at the scene.”

“What do you mean? His blood went all over the place.”

“That’s my point,” Yang affirmed, gesturing with her index finger. “It’ll be there tomorrow. They’re probably going to have the lab tests expedited.”

Ruby’s stomach dropped. “Oh crap, I was at the scene.”

“Relax, it’s his blood, right?”

“Yeah, but my fingerprints are on the door! I could get summoned for questioning!” Ruby pressed the back of her hand to her forehead.

“They’ll brush you off as an innocent bystander or something. It’s fine, chill out,” Yang assured.

“This is the second time I showed up at one of his robberies. Don’t you think that looks suspicious? The only reason I was able to get out of it is because Professor Ozpin himself pardoned me. In person.”

Yang paused. “Oh shit. Okay, you gotta tell me what happened.”

Ruby started pacing back and forth. “I can’t.”

“What? Why not?” Yang asked.

“The reason I was there,” Ruby declared, exasperated to the point of exhaustion.

“What is it?” Yang asked.

Ruby pictured Yang talking about how she would totally get Neo the next time she saw her. Yang would immediately shut her down. She needs answers. Ruby shook her head.

“Look, Ruby.” Yang stopped Ruby, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her to look her in the eye. “I can help, but I have to know everything.”

“You’d just go tell Weiss and Blake!”

“People are going to find out anyways. If you get called in for questioning, they’re gonna have a lot of questions that I won’t be able to help you with. Besides, I’m not going to tell them. You are.”

“I was just walking by, and—”

“Stop it. The robbery took place at four in the morning.” Yang let go of Ruby. “You don’t have to tell me what happened, but I won’t be able to cover for you if you don’t.”


	17. More Than It's Gonna Hurt You

It was Roman who broke the silence. “Nice place.”

Neo set her glass down on the granite countertop. _Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier._ _Police raid tore your old apartment to pieces. I had already put a down payment on this place back when you were in prison._

“You knew my old apartment would get checked out?” asked Roman.

_I think they just figured you’d need somewhere to crash. It was just a matter of time before they narrowed it down._

“So this is my place?” Roman eye caught the little details, the small touches of Neo’s personal style evident in the furniture selection and the color scheme.

_No, it’s mine. Well, legally._

“Don’t you think that’s a bad idea? I mean, you don’t have a legit identity.”

_It’s not the one I was born with—that one’s scrubbed. But you know that I can change my appearance at a moment’s notice, and there won’t be any questions asked because this one doesn’t have a criminal record._

 “I understand. But what if police come knocking on the door one day?”

Neo shrugged her shoulders. _No one has a reason to open up a case on me, but if they did, it’d be because you smiled for the cameras all the way from your latest heist to here._

Roman contemplated the situation. He’d have to do a tactical evaluation of the area and find a quiet route with no closed-circuit security cameras. Then he’d have to worry about his appearance. He’d need a new wardrobe, a new haircut, and a new everything, basically. He can’t drive or risk being pulled over by a cop. He’d have to go everywhere on foot. That shouldn’t be a problem; everyone uses the subway. Anonymity shouldn’t be a problem as long as he can keep a low profile.

“Neo,” Roman started.

She glanced up in response.

“Red had your ring when she came to find me.”

Neo looked away.

“I have one question,” said Roman. “Why?”

Neo shifted uncomfortably, turning away to face the television. A news report was covering the investigation on last night’s attempted robbery. Forensic analysis placed Roman at the scene, but given the amount of blood that was found there, detectives believe that he had an unidentified accomplice to get him out.

Red.

“Neo, I already asked her, and she didn’t give anything up.”

_That’s because I told her not to say anything._

Roman groaned. “And why would you do that?”

_Trust me, I had my reasons._

“Bullshit,” Roman laughed, “You’ve never had a reason to keep anything from me. That relationship was built on trust, which you’re not doing right now. What kind of conspiracy shit is going on?”

_It’s not my secret to tell. It’s hers._

Roman rolled his eyes. “And how’s that?”

_She came to me and told me that she wanted to tell you. That’s how I found out. When I realized what was going on, I talked her down from it._

That’s weird. “Why? What’s the big deal?”

_It wouldn’t be unlike you to do something rash._

“Like what?” How would Roman react in haste to anything she had to say?

_It’s a little surprising, and I know how you don’t like surprises. My first instinct was that you would probably just grab a sidearm and kill her, but then I realized you might have opted for torture._

Roman squinted. “I would hold a Beacon student who got in after interrupting one of my robberies captive during school hours to torture her for what, exactly?”

_How do you even know that?_

“I wasn’t able to figure out how a fifteen-year-old stopped an armed robbery all by herself.”

Neo cocked her head to the side. _Good point._

“What are you basing these assumptions on? If I did anything to her, I’d open, set up, and close the case on her missing person report. Everything’s there: a lack of an alibi, motive, evidence…”

_And her fingerprints on the door._

Roman faltered. “What door?”

_The door she dragged your body through._

He shook his head and leaned against the wall. Neo knew how deep she could cut by lying to him. “Neo, what the hell is going on?”

_What do you mean?_

“What do you expect to get from lying to me?”

_I expect you to get closure._

~~~~~

 

Ruby sat curled up on her bed, still wearing the clothes she was wearing the past two nights. It had been well over a day since it happened. Ruby wondered if she would be the so-called accomplice they mentioned on the news.

The entire ordeal kept Ruby up at night. The questions, the truth, the secrets, the lies. Everything that happened in the past week probably would have given Ruby a sense of clarity if it didn’t come with asterisks and strings attached. Ruby had no idea how to deal with it. With each answer she gets to one of her questions, she suddenly stumbles into ten more. One step closer to the truth, ten steps back. She had no idea what was going on, and the thing that scared her the most was Neo’s dark omen.

_“It will be the last thing you do.”_


	18. Six Years Ago

**Six Years Ago**

 

Ruby rushed down the damp steps, unwrapping the scarf from around her neck as the muggy, underground air surrounded her. She padded it on her wet face and surveyed the subway entry terminals. The lines were longer than they usually were on rainy days—well no duh, Christmas is a week away. People like Ruby were just looking to get back to her family for the holidays, but what surprised her was how many people were in a station in a residential area. Huh, weird.

Ruby stuffed her scarf into her purse and retrieved her wallet. Her scroll buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and read the message from her sister.

“ _Just got your ACCEPTANCE LETTER TO SIGNAL IN THE MAIL!!!!!”_

Amid a crowd of strangers in a cramped subway lobby, Ruby squealed. A loud, piercing sound erupted from her throat, barely perceptible as the word, “Yes!”

The buzzing hum of conversation faded to silence, and everyone turned to stare at the girl who suddenly screamed. Ruby felt her stomach drop when she saw the condescending looks on their faces, especially that of a mother who was pushing her child further behind her. Ruby lowered her head, re-reading Yang’s message. She smiled with giddy delight.

She got in. She was going to Signal, one of the best combat training schools in the world. She would become a Huntress, just like her mother.

Slipping her scroll into her pants pocket, Ruby pulled her coat off of her shoulders and hung it on her arm, rolling her shoulders to readjust her hoodie. Ruby opened the wallet and reached for her metrocard.

When she finally reached the turnstile, she held her card over the scanner, listening for the beep, then pushed the metal bar out of her way.

Down another flight of steps, Ruby saw two sets of stairs on opposite sides of the main hall—one uptown, one downtown. Considering that she had absolutely no sense of direction, Ruby consulted a map on the wall. She needed to get to Patch, so she’d need to switch trains at one point because only one train goes that deep and that far. Ruby picked out the closest station that would take her where she needed to go. There were only a few routes that actually went in that direction, and she’d need to change trains at least twice. She tried to commit everything to memory, but then she scoffed at herself, realizing that she would forget the moment she looked away. She settled on memorizing which direction to go and what train to get on and where to get off. “Uptown, D, 32nd St.”

She repeated these words over and over under her breath, making sure she wouldn’t forget them. After descending another set of stairs to the platform, she found a seat and waited patiently for her train to arrive.

Two minutes later, a train with the letter _D_ on it, which Ruby could see despite that it was her blowing hair in her eyes, whistled past and came to a screeching halt. She stood up and watched as several people flowed from the opening doors, trying to maneuver the people who shoved past them to get on the train themselves.

Hoping that she would be able to use her small size to her advantage, Ruby dove in. She clung to the back of a man carrying a briefcase who seemed like the type that wouldn’t allow anybody else to deter him from getting on.

Thankfully, she was right, and the door nearly shut on her coat, but she pulled it in just in time. Once she was closed in, she realized just how cramped it was, the thickness of the air. It was just too much. Maybe she could find another car…

Ruby squeezed past the man she tailed to get onto the train and slid through the crowd. Most people were kind enough to make some room for her to pass, but others pretended she wasn’t even there, not even acknowledging her when she said, “excuse me”.

She reached the end and looked at the doors. A sign read, “Do not open unless in an emergency.” Maybe she could wait it out?

Oh come on, Ruby saw people passing through these all the time.

Ruby shook her head and ignored the shaky feeling in her gut and pulled the doors open. Air blasted into her face as she stepped out, Ruby allowing the doors to close behind her. She looked at the gap between the cars. It couldn’t have been more than four inches, but she knew that her foot could get caught down there if she wasn’t careful enough.

Ruby scolded herself for getting caught up in her own anxiety and took a step forward. She tried to stretch her arm across the gap, reaching for the door without letting go of the other one. Her fingers barely grazed the cool metal on the other door.

Ruby took a deep breath, let go of the door handle and lunged forward. Her heart skipped and beat a little more forcefully than it did before. When she exhaled, she realized that she was holding her breath.

Opening the doors felt blissful—the cool air rushed into her face, onto the thin layer of sweat beading on her face. Ruby took in a breath of fresh air and noticed that there were plenty of people on this train as well.

Ruby pulled up her sleeve to check her watch. 5:45. Ruby realized that she would probably get home later than six o’clock, the time she told her father she would be home.

An announcement came over the speaker. “Next stop, 34th street.”

That was her stop right? Maybe not, but if she missed it, she would be later than she already was. _Just get off at the next stop, Ruby._

The doors opened. Not many people got on the train, but many got off. The station was already incredibly crowded as is, and it probably couldn’t take much more people. Ruby barely stepped onto the platform before she realized she couldn’t go any further.

Deciding that she needed to look at a map, Ruby tried to slip around, but no one backed up to let her pass. Not like she blamed them—they don’t have any room to give her. Ruby tripped and grabbed onto someone’s sleeve.

In one swift moment that slipped from Ruby’s consciousness, the hand she grabbed onto pushed her back, and Ruby felt nothing but the twisting in her gut until her legs made contact with the floor.

Ruby gathered her senses. At first, she just heard a lot of gasping and a woman’s voice shouting, “Someone do something!” Nothing was where it was supposed to be. Her tailbone pained her to the point that she could hardly move the lower half of her body. Her foot was twisted at an unnatural angle, and oh god, she felt it. Everything hurt, and her vision was blurry, black spots scattering her vision.

After she figured out which way was up and which way was down, Ruby realized that she was on the subway tracks. Ruby pushed herself up onto her elbows, barely mustering the strength to get herself any further. Suddenly, she heard a screeching whistle deep in the tunnel ahead.

A train was coming.

Ruby started to feel a sense of panic rising in her chest. Her breath came up too short, and she could hardly think two seconds ahead of herself.

Ruby heard something fall behind her. She turned around. About twenty feet behind, a boy jumped down and landed on three points. He raced over to Ruby.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

Ruby looked down at her foot. He followed her gaze and nodded. He held out his hands to her. Ruby turned and took one of them, and he pulled her up. Ruby saw the light of the train shining on his shirt.

“Hey,” he whispered. Ruby looked up. She noticed that there were two fresh cuts under his right eye, nearly parallel, blood oozing down the side of his face. “It’s gonna be all right.”

Ruby nodded.

“I’m gonna boost you up, okay?” He looked down at her—piercing green eyes.

He kneeled and laced his fingers together, placing them on the floor. “Go ahead and step on my hand,” he shouted. The train was getting closer.

Ruby placed her hands on his shoulders, gently putting weight on her injured foot. She grunted as she stepped on his hands. Counting to three, he lifted her up and took two steps backwards. One of the women on the platform approached the edge and offered her hand. Ruby reached out and took it.

The boy beneath Ruby pushed her foot as high as he could until Ruby slipped her knee on the edge and the woman holding onto her forearm pulled her up.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Ruby ignored her and turned around. The train was coming down the tracks, but the boy who helped her off the tracks was already halfway up, propping himself up on the edge. He swung his legs up right as the train arrived.

He reached out and placed a hand on her arm. “See? You’re fine.” He offered a half smile before getting on his feet and taking off, pulling up his hood and putting his hands in his pockets.

Ruby sat for a moment, dazed.

“Excuse me,” the woman said. “Do you need to borrow a phone?”

Ruby turned to look at her. She pulled out her scroll and examined the screen. Still functional.

Ruby shook her head. “No, thank you.”

Ruby turned back around to the boy who saved her life, but he was already gone.


	19. Do(n't) Ask, Do(n't) Tell

“Yang, can we talk?” Ruby asked.

“Sure. What’s it about?” Yang leaned forward and set one of her arms on the table. She was dressed in her usual combat gear, fully armed, having just finished training. However, Ruby decided to rest, wearing a white t-shirt and her favorite pair of shorts.

Painfully aware of the fact that they were in public, Ruby looked around before answering. “It’s about Torchwick.”

Yang immediately slouched and looked back at Ruby with a deflated look. “Look, I already told you.”

“I know, I know. I tell you everything or I tell you nothing.”

“Does that mean you’re going to come clean?” Yang opened her water bottle. “Because if you aren’t, I don’t want to hear it.”

“No, I think I can get it out this time.” Ruby inhaled as deeply as her lungs would allow. Breathing didn’t do anything to settle her nerves. “Oh, God, where do I start?”

“How about the robbery?” Yang seemed annoyed. Ruby tried to have this conversation with Yang so many times before Yang decided it wouldn’t help anyone if she didn’t know anything—it just left the both of them more frustrated than they were when they started the conversation.

“Okay, just one condition.”

Yang sighed. “I don’t tell Weiss or Blake?”

“Yeah.”

“You got it.”

Ruby’s back straightened. “Wait seriously?”

“Whatever you haven’t told me has been eating at you for days, and at this point, I’m really worried that this might be more than I thought.”

Ruby slightly nodded, deep in thought.

“So why were you at the bank at four in the morning? You didn’t just decide to go on a walk.”

“Right,” said Ruby. That question cut right to the point. “Uh, you can’t freak out.”

“I’ll try to contain myself.”

Deep breath. “I got a text. Telling me to go to the East Ordinance bank ASAP.”

“From who?”

“Don’t freak out.”

“I won’t.”

“…Neo.”

For a moment, Yang sat quietly, just trying to process the information, but then it sank in. Neo texted Ruby directly, and that’s pretty damning. Yang looked like she was going to scream.

Instead, thankfully, she defused herself, gritting her teeth. “Why?”

“She needed help, and I was one of the few people she could reach out to.”

“Wait a second, this is making no sense. What do you mean? Why would she reach out to you?”

“When we were in Junior’s club and everything caught fire, she showed me the scar on his face and asked me to help carry him out.”

“But you came out alone. There’s only one exit.”

“There’s two, actually. Not that it matters anymore.”

“Why does the scar matter so much?”

“It was the exact same.”

“What if that was just a really good coincidence? Both times, you were hocked up on adrenaline thinking you were gonna die.”

“Because she was the one who pointed it out, not me.”

“Wait, how does she know?”

“Maybe they talk about it behind closed doors.”

Yang pressed her palms into her eye sockets. “Even if that was the case, why would that change anything?”

Ruby shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“How would you not know?”

“I don’t know,” Ruby resigned, “She just didn’t try to kill me when she saw me.”

“But Torchwick did?”

“Yeah, but neither of us knew what was going on.”

“What is going on?” Yang asked. “Neo didn’t shoot you on the spot because of some incident six years ago? I don’t buy it. There’s something else going on.”

“That’s what I’m thinking,” Ruby pointed. “Each time we’ve spoken, I’ve had this nagging feeling that they’re hiding something from me. At first, I thought it was just because they were criminals or something, but then I realized that it goes deeper.”

“Have you asked Neo directly, ‘What aren’t you telling me?’?”

Ruby shook her head.

“Why not?” asked Yang.

“I’m strangely paranoid that something bad is going to happen to me if I do. But I have really good reason to believe that.”

“And what’s that?”

“When I told Neo that I was going to tell Torchwick who I was, she freaked out. She said it’d be the last thing I do.”

Yang’s eyebrow quirked. “What the heck is that supposed to mean?”

“My theory is that she’d only tell me that if Torchwick would kill me himself. So I think if he’s willing to do that, the information could jeopardize his life.”

“How exactly would the knowledge that Roman Torchwick saved your life be dangerous to him?”

“I have no clue.” Ruby leaned back into her seat. “I think if I want to fill in the gaps, I have to ask some really dangerous people some really dangerous questions.”

Yang looked away for a moment. “I’m not going to tell you not to because I think it’s your choice to make, but do you really want to take that risk?”

“I don’t know. How am I supposed to know if it’s worth it?”

Yang shrugged. “I’m seventeen. I don’t have any good answers to a question that deep. I’d recommend seeking the help of someone older, but I think just about everyone who fits that description would immediately go to the police. Weiss and Blake are probably going to feel the same way.”

“Why don’t you then?” Ruby pondered. Yang seemed to be really cooperative with the whole skeletons-in-the-closet deal, so what gives?

“I’m always going to be on your side. You’re my sister,” Yang stated, her tone reflecting the sincerity in her words. “You have never given me reason not to trust you. You have always had my back, and now I’m going to cover yours.” Yang smiled.

Ruby felt herself blush, but she paid it no mind and smiled back. When Ruby remembered, her face flushed, eyes wide. “Oh _crap_.”

Yang’s face fell. “What is it?”

“That restaurant was _foreclosed_ ,” Ruby whined. “I’m so screwed.”

“I don’t follow.”

“So what was a Beacon student doing in there?” Ruby predicted. Yang was right—somebody is going to ask a lot of questions Ruby doesn’t want asked. She had the strangest feeling of being a criminal, praying that the cops would overlook one particular piece of evidence and getting sick to her stomach over it. She hated it.

“Relax, we can come up with a story for this,” Yang consoled, pressing her outstretched hands in Ruby’s direction as if she was trying to contain Ruby’s paranoid mentality.

“Yeah, like what? I was robbing them? I wanted to play the hero?”

Yang pointed at her. “You’ve done that before.”

“Well, it’s going to sound like crap the second time around, especially because I suck at lying.”

“How about you tell the truth?” Yang suggested.

Ruby scoffed in dismissal, but Yang pressed on.

“I’m serious. Just tell them that you heard gunshots, and you ran inside to help. When you saw Torchwick injured, you helped him out.”

“What about the fact that it happened at four in the morning?”

“Say you snuck out. Couldn’t sleep. I’m sure you’re not the first person to sneak of campus in the middle of the night.”

“And then someone called to me, and they said they’d help him, so I put him in the van and they took off.”

“See? It’s not that bad. Besides, that evidence is circumstantial at best. They’ll have a hard time pinning anything on you.”

“Except there’s the fact that I got in the van with him. I drove it so Neo could remove the bullet in his chest.”

“So?”

“I was at his place all day until, what, three o’clock? No one saw me all day.”

“No, I did. I thought you felt restless and decided to take a walk. You came back after first period. I decided to wait up for you, and I did, and you said you thought you could use the time to rest. So you did.”

“That’s a lie,” Ruby stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Which you won’t have to tell.” Yang leaned closer. “Just stick to the stuff that’s true. If they ask you about after, refer to what I just said.”

“I know where he lives, Yang,” Ruby complained. “I have sensitive information.”

Yang leaned back. “No, actually, you don’t. You are not in any way affiliated with Roman Torchwick, and unless you want the police to get suspicious, you shouldn’t offer that up.”

Ruby pursed her lips. Lying to the police, acting as if she wasn’t prompted to action by a criminal—wasn’t that criminal behavior? Would the real story make her an accessory to the crime? Because Neo had her number? And worse, can they see that activity on her scroll?

Either way, Ruby was banking on the hopes that she wouldn’t be called in for questioning.


	20. If-Then-Else

Roman stepped out of the shower, massaging his head with an overpriced towel. Everything Neo bought screamed, “I am a very credible owner of this apartment in the most ridiculous residential district in all of Vale.”

Leaving the building was difficult for Roman, but for Neo and Junior? Nope. Their faces aren’t all over the news, and people aren’t talking about him on online forums or whatever he planned to do next. Not even one of the most popular theories surrounding his escape—the VPD refused to release the details—suggested that someone else could have been involved. Not that it surprised him. Roman was the only big bad in the city—no one else to fear, hide from. Roman tied his towel around his waist and stepped into his bedroom.

His apartment was absolutely quiet.

In his old building, he might have been worried that someone snuck in, but this one was so quiet, so fortified, that he didn’t even need to think about that possibility. Fortunately, it just meant that Neo wasn’t in the apartment.

“What are you doing this early in the morning, Neo?” Roman muttered under his breath, picking up a pair of pants off the dresser as he walked into the kitchen. He hated considering the worst: she was keeping secrets from him. Probably sharing them with Red, the strangely elusive third party. Why would Neo go to her before she went to him? Some petty thing with girls and gossiping?

Roman picked up his scroll and considered sending a text to Neo, but he realized that if he was right, she wouldn’t give him an honest answer. He opted to call Junior instead, punching his number into the keypad.

The number dialed, and Roman put it on speakerphone to quickly put on his pants. After he zipped up, he picked up his scroll and held it to his ear. Instead of Junior, he got his voicemail. Roman growled and hung up.

What the hell were they doing?

 

~~~~~

 

Ruby jumped at the sound of someone’s phone ringing.

“Sorry, that’s me,” said Junior. He pulled his scroll out of his pocket, frowning when he saw the caller ID. “It’s Roman.”

Neo dragged her thumb across her throat and shook her head.

Junior denied the call and put it back in his pocket. Reaching for the scotch on the counter behind him, he held a glass up to Ruby. “Want some?”

Timidly, Ruby shook her head.

Junior shrugged innocently. “You will.”

Neo clapped her hands, attracting Junior’s attention. Fluidly, she gestured artful symbols guided by expertise and control. Junior interpreted, “We need to talk about what we’re going to do moving forward. Protecting you from this point on will be extremely difficult.”

“What does that mean?”

Neo had nothing to say, and Junior spoke with reticence. “Well, Roman has been known to have been very sagacious in his past when this sort of thing happens, and he isn’t going to be happy that we’re keeping this from him.”

“What?” Ruby spat.

“He will eventually figure out who you are. That is inevitable,” Junior postulated.

Neo started signing again, Junior speaking for her, “We just need to figure out what’s going to be done.”

Ruby bit her lip. “Why am I involved, then?”

“After a very long discussion, we have decided that a mutual agreement between the three of us will be the most beneficial decision.”

“Are you even going to tell me why?” Ruby asked.

Neo and Junior exchanged glances. Junior spoke, “There is absolutely no fallback on you if you choose to go to the police.”

“Honestly, I have no reason not to go to the police right now.”

“Actually, you do,” Junior remarked, taking a swig of his drink. “If you go to the police, you’ll end up putting your life in danger.”

“Is that a threat?” Ruby stammered, voice wavering.

“No. Roman will probably do it himself. Finding out that you went to the police about that won’t piss him off, it’ll scare the living crap out of him. Roman is like an animal in the way that he gets more dangerous when he’s cornered.”

A lightbulb may as well have gone off above his head. “So telling the police _would_ endanger his life! That’s what you’re not telling me.”

Junior pinched the bridge of his nose.

“So what is it? The police didn’t kill him in captivity, so why would they kill him if they knew I saved his life?” Ruby speculated, “They wouldn’t. So who is he in trouble with?”

Junior cocked his head to the side and smirked. “I like your style, kid.” He turned to Neo, who was shaking her head. “At this point, she’d only need to do a half hour of research to put all of the pieces together.”

Neo signed expressively in response.

“Really, what’s the harm in giving her what we know?”

Neo barely even moved before Junior countered, “Roman is quite capable of protecting himself. As long as we have a plan moving forward, we won’t need to worry protecting anybody.”

“Doesn’t that mean that you have to tell Torchwick who I am if he isn’t going to freak out?” Ruby wondered, thinking about the threat he still posed.

“That’s going to be tricky, and we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Okay, kid, so basically, Roman got in trouble with the cartel, stealing drug money or something like that. They gave him a choice: die or take the fall for a crime.”

“How does that have anything to do with me?” Ruby asked.

“Well, Roman wasn’t actually at the crime scene, but whoever set it up planted evidence that he was there. Thing is, Roman was actually miles away in a subway at the exact time it took place.”

“I’m his alibi,” Ruby realized. “But wait, why would it be bad for Torchwick to prove that he couldn’t have done it?”

“Apparently, they needed a certain narrative.”

“Which means…?”

“No one would suspect that the cartel had anything to do with it. From what I remember, the original plan was for Roman to do time, but he was exceptional at evading arrest, so it never happened. Now, he’s infamous for crimes he actually did commit, so everyone assumes that it was just his debut or something like that. Cartel’s happy either way as long as no one turns their nose up at them.”

“So, say I did go to the police and warned them about their involvement. What then?”

“That’s ill-advised. There are plenty of dirty cops in the division that would probably give them a heads-up. Cartel starts a manhunt.”

“Is it really still relevant now?”

Junior sighed, “Ask him.”

“Wait, he didn’t even tell you everything?”

“He’s not proud of it.”

Neo started signing with Junior’s help, “He felt like he was given an opportunity to balance the scales when he saw that you needed help. It helped him cope.”

“What, like some kind of hero complex?”

Neo snickered.

Junior broke out into laughter. “No, not like a hero complex.”

Ruby blushed. “Oh.”

When Junior finally settled down, he suggested, “Okay, so let’s figure out what we’re going to do about this.”

“Move cautiously?” Ruby submitted.

“No,” Junior thought. “I think we have to just break the news to him.”

Ruby reminded him, “Isn’t that a bad thing?”

“I can already tell that this is driving him crazy. He will not stop until he gets some answers, so it’s better if we tell him sooner.”

“So then what are we going to do?”

Neo signed. “Are you willing to do something risky?” Junior supplied.

Ruby mulled over the possibilities in her mind. Torchwick probably doesn’t even trust her, so what would really stop him from tying up any loose ends on the spot?

But what if he didn’t want to?

“What do you have in mind?”


	21. Control

Roman held his scroll in his hands. He spent all morning and the better half of the afternoon doing research on Red. It didn’t take him long to find her name, given that their little run-in at the dust shop was bound to have shown up on the news. Allegedly, she preferred not to let the news use her name in the report, but they did mention something about how stopping the robbery was opening doors for her. With a little digging, he discovered that they meant Red received early admission to Beacon, which explained why Red and her band of merry do-gooders came swinging at him when he took his business to the next level.

But strangely enough, Red was special. According to rumors, she beheaded a Nevermore on her second day at Beacon and subsequently became the leader of her team. Aside from meddling in Roman’s affairs, Red was quite accomplished as a Huntress, even though she was still in training.

Roman had been under the impression that Red was just some ditsy girl who couldn’t hold up in a fight, but apparently, hand-to-hand is her only weakness. The only thing she really needs at this point isn’t skill or talent. It’s experience. And when she gains that experience, she might just become one of the greatest Huntresses this world has ever seen.

Which means that if there is ever a time that Roman would need to take her out, that time would be now.

 _Oh come on, let’s face it,_ Roman thought. _She’s nice and all, but she poses a potential threat to Roman’s future. And knowing how annoyingly far she’ll go to fight for justice, she won’t give up._

But that didn’t answer the one question he’s been vying to answer this whole time: why would she waste good time and energy to save his ass?

Roman had no clue. Still, to this point, he was confused as to why a straight shooter like Red would save his life. She could have turned her back on him and let him bleed out. Problem solved, right? At least, that’s what he would do—let nature take care of your problems. Or maybe she wasn’t like that. Roman strives to see the world through a different lens, economically. Maximize profit, reduce costs.

No, Red probably doesn’t think like him. Red has done things that risked her own life. For example, she tried to interrupt his plans at Mountain Glenn unarmed. He wasn’t exactly surprised when she stopped his robbery with a giant scythe, but unarmed? God, she must have a death wish or something. She certainly gives less value to her own life than Roman does.

So why would she risk it to save his? She couldn’t honestly put any worth to his life, given that he has taken countless, merciless shots at her. Would she really save his life just for the sake of saving his life?

No, that couldn’t be the case. It just doesn’t make any sense. She must have an angle, otherwise she wouldn’t be doing any of this.

Roman looked down at the scroll in his hands. He is at a major loss, not knowing anything about the current situation. Making a move now, when he didn’t have any information, would surely come back around later. So his next task is simple: find answers.


	22. Lehane Rising

With all the commotion that went down in the past few days, the last thing that Roman expected was to see Cinder in his new place one week within the failure of his assignment. Roman was prepared to drop everything and gush with apologies, but Cinder just raised her flattened hand and said, “Save it.”

When Roman asked why she was here, she tilted her head to the side and pouted, “Something strong would be a good start.”

Only half sarcastic, Roman thought about strangling her and asking her if that satisfied her, but he restrained himself, and looked through his collection of alcohol to find something that might suit her. Something skinny but bitter as hell should do the trick.

Roman groaned, settling on white wine, and poured a decent amount of liquid into a glass that seemed better suited for hard liquor. His arm extended out to her, offering up the glass as something of an olive branch even though he neglected to put an olive in the drink itself. Crossing her legs, she leaned forward and wrapped her carefully delicate fingers around his, taking the glass in her hands before Roman dropped it completely out of revulsion and nearly let it crash on the counter.

Cinder set it gently on the countertop, but traced her fingers along the edge. Not that Cinder really bothered him, but she really knew how to set his nerves ablaze, and that’s probably what he hated the most about her presence. She knew that an excellent way to sharpen his senses was to creep him out, which felt strange—Roman was usually the one who manipulated others.

But Cinder always had her own agenda in mind, so if Cinder is going to come in with an offensive front, she was trying to put him on the defensive to prepare him for whatever happened next.

Cinder retracted her hand and set it on her lap. “What, no quips this morning?”

“It’s early.” Roman turned to the shelves and grabbed a large glass made to handle lighter beverages.

“I can see that,” Cinder cooed. Roman turned and glared at her, doing nothing to deter her behavior. “I guess I should get to the point.”

“Wonderful idea,” Roman muttered, chasing right up on the end of Cinder’s sentence.

She quirked an eyebrow, but Roman shrugged his shoulders and poured himself a heavy amount of vodka.

“After sorting through your report, I have deemed that your failure to complete the mission was not due to your own inability to do it.”

“How charming,” Roman mocked. “So why are you here, then? Do I need to rephrase something for your convenience?”

Cinder squinted. “Like you said, it’s early. It’s best not to test my thinning patience.”

Rolling his eyes, Roman tipped his glass back.

Cinder sighed and straightened her back. “I wanted to ask you about the restaurant.”

Roman’s neck tensed, but he tried not to show anything on his face that would give him away. “What is it?”

“I watched your debriefing. And you seemed a little—hmm, what’s the word—agitated,” Cinder paused to look into Roman’s eyes. He didn’t move. “when we asked you about what happened.”

Roman took a moment before responding, thinking where he would drive this conversation. “I nearly bled out. What do you expect?”

Cinder leaned forward and oriented her elbow on her knee. “But how did you get out? Just as the police are saying, you must have had an accomplice to get you out.”

Roman opened his mouth to retort, but he shut it quickly. Cinder raised her eyebrows. _Bitch._

“Neo was there. Did you read any of the mission protocols I gave you?” Roman crossed his arms.

Cinder frowned. No, she never reads the mission protocols. And Cinder knows that Roman knew that already. Roman couldn’t help but smirk.

Clearing her throat, Cinder responded, “I trusted that you had the situation under control. And as you know, I am a very busy woman.”

“If that’s true,” Roman thought out loud, “then why are you here?”

With a sardonic smile that made Roman’s skin crawl, Cinder whispered, “What do you think?”

Roman didn’t even want to consider the implications of that statement. Either Cinder was keeping an eye on his sorry ass, or Cinder was keeping an eye on his sorry ass. He knew which one she actually meant, but the idea still creeped him out.

Hoping to pull the same trick she was using, Roman slurred, “Anything else you wanted?” and let his gaze fall to her lips for a moment.

She abruptly leaned back but maintained her elegant poise as she shifted her weight off the chair. “By the way, how is your shoulder?”

Roman glanced at it. When he rolled it, he winced, but the pain wasn’t so significant that it could distract him from his surroundings. “It’s healing pretty quickly.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to continue work for me soon?” Cinder batted her lashes.

“If you have anything on you, I’ll get started immediately.”

“No files. That’s what I’m hoping you’ll help me with.”

What? Cinder wants Roman to investigate? Man, he must have really been benched. “Research? Don’t you have a team for that?”

Cinder’s head lulled to the side. “Yes, but this one is a special case.”

“What is it?” Roman carried his drink to the couch and grabbed his laptop from the coffee table.

“ _Who_ is she, rather.”

Roman turned to look over his shoulder, saying nothing but showing his impatience in his eyes.

Cinder blinked. “I want everything you can find on that girl who interrupted your robbery a few months back.”

Wait, Red? What does she want with her? Or worse, what does she already know? “Anything you want in particular?”

“Any anomalies or things that make her stand out in a lineup. I don’t want any surprises, and I’ve encountered her on more than a few occasions.”

Roman threw his arm over the edge of the couch. “All right. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Anything else?”

Cinder raised her chin. “No. Just find whatever you can on her. I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”

And with that, Cinder sauntered to the door and let herself out.

Well, there was one bright side to Cinder’s visit: she asked him to do what he had already done yesterday. Quite extensively, actually. All he had to do now was figure out what to include and what to leave out.


	23. Duplicity

Ruby took another shaky breath as she pushed the button marked with a 26. Holding her breath, she stepped back and watched the doors close.

 _This is such a stupid idea,_ she thought. Her head tipped back and she was met with her reflection. Her eyes were wide, and even with such a limited view of her body, she appeared tense. Not a great way to approach the situation. Ruby’s head swam with the possibilities of what could happen after today—would he take it well? Or would Neo’s warning materialize in all of the ways she hoped it wouldn’t?

Ruby knotted her fingers together in an effort to stop them from shaking. The elevator halted suddenly, alerting Ruby that she had reached her destination with a ding. She stepped out into the chilly hallway, looking around the corners as if he would be standing right there, waiting for her. He wasn’t, and Ruby didn’t know why he would be, but something about him put her on edge. Maybe it was because he always seemed two steps ahead of her.

Ruby exhaled and started walking. She knew which apartment was his, and to know how much closer to him she was getting was dizzying. It was all so surreal—Ruby never thought she would see that boy ever again, and then it turns out to be the criminal she’s been after since before she started attending Beacon?

Ruby turned the corner and swallowed. With her eyes, she found the door she was looking for. Each step taken with trembling feet, she sauntered over. All that was left to do now was knock.

She raised her fist, hesitating. If she turned around now, she could leave and pretend this never happened. She could continue living her life the way she planned and forget all about Torchwick. Biting her lip, she realized that wasn’t an option. She stopped fidgeting and commanded herself to knock on the door, ignoring her stomach as it dropped when she realized the deed was done.

Footsteps approached the door and Ruby stepped back, averting her gaze from the peephole. They stopped suddenly, and Ruby’s breath caught in her throat. She was sweating. For a moment that spanned several seconds, nothing happened. It was as if time stood still. But then, through the door, she heard the sliding of a chain followed by the click of a lock.

The door swung open, and in the doorway stood Torchwick. Ruby looked up and was surprised to find that the expression on his face reflected the same shock she felt.

Face heating up, Ruby spoke. “We need to talk.”

“Yes, I imagine we do,” he responded. The look on his face abated into a calm, analytical glimmer in his eyes. It might’ve been Ruby’s imagination, but she saw the edge of his scar behind the thin curtain of bangs hanging lazily over the right side of his face. He stepped to the side, allowing her to enter.

Ruby quietly passed him and stepped into the foyer.

“Where’s your weed whacker?” he asked, the closing of the door giving Ruby a sudden start.

Ruby reached instinctively behind her back, remembering only after that she chose not to bring Crescent Rose. “I left it at home.”

Circling around Ruby to face her, Roman nodded. “I see.”

He looked down at what she was wearing—a black t-shirt and shorts—and back up to her eyes, narrowing his eyes slightly. Hooking his thumbs through the belt loops in his pants, he walked into the kitchen. “Déjà vu, huh, kid?”

“Yeah,” Ruby breathed.

Roman picked up a half-full glass off the counter and turned to face her. “Let’s skip the conversational foreplay and get right to it.” He tipped the glass back, taking a swig of his drink with a grimace.

Ruby crinkled her brows together. “Get right to what?”

“Over the past week, we’ve come to an understanding, and that’s how I’d like to keep things.”

“Um, what exactly are you talking about?”

Roman sighed. “How I helped you that one day in the subway.”

Ruby nodded slowly, drifting into a pensive trance. “I think we need to come clean.”

“How so?” Roman drawled, one eyebrow quirked.

“You haven’t killed me yet.” Ruby muttered meekly, tucking her chin.

Roman picked up on what she was trying to say. “How much has Neo told you?”

“Enough,” she responded.

Roman swirled what was left of his drink in the bottom of his glass. Ruby was avoiding eye contact, and if he looked closely enough, he could see that her hands were shaking. Finishing his drink, he set the empty glass down on the counter and took a step towards her.

“Who else knows?” Roman’s tone was stern.

Ruby shook her head, not making a move to look up.

His temper wore thin. “Look me in the eye, and tell me who you told.”

Her bottom lip quivered. “Just my sister.”

Roman set his jaw and ran a hand through his hair. “And who’s she gonna tell?”

“No one.”

Roman scoffed. “Really.”

“Yes, really!” Ruby threw her fists down to her sides. “She knows that telling someone would be throwing me under the bus. I don’t want this to get out just as much as you.”

Sighing, he resigned to the cabinet. “Want something to take the edge off?”

Ruby scratched the back of her neck. “No, I’m underage.”

Shrugging in response, he opted for a sizeable decanter of scotch. “Never stopped me.” He filled up a second glass halfway and handed it out to her.

She reached out and took it in both hands. When he retracted his fingers, the skin they brushed against tingled. Ruby’s skin suddenly flushed, and she was glad that Roman was looking in the other direction.

She quickly took a sip of whatever he handed her, immediately recoiling at the taste. “God, that’s horrible!”

“Nobody really drinks for the taste alone.”

Ruby traced her thumb on the edge of the glass. “So what now?”

“I think,” he started, stopping to consider his words, “it would be best for us to go our separate ways.”

Something tugged in Ruby’s gut. “What do you mean?”

“We continue as if you were just the girl that thwarted a robbery in-progress, and I’m the guy committing a string of crimes in Vale.”

Ruby caught onto “a string”, but she decided not to say anything. “I don’t think I can go on like that.”


	24. Disclosure

The aggressive rapping of knuckles against his front door woke Roman up from his nap. Grumbling about the time, he pulled himself out of bed and took a quick glance at his mirror to make sure he appeared somewhat presentable.

Whoever was at the door knocked again, but this time, they pounded their fists on the door. Roman sighed.

He opened the door. Emerald, with her fist poised to knock again, stood in the threshold, but Mercury leaned on the opposite wall, pushing off to enter. Without stepping to the side, Roman felt a nagging irritation clawing away at his psyche when they slipped past him. Everything about them, from the way they carried themselves to the way they _smelled_ , everything was just so offensive that when he saw them, Roman couldn’t help but want to bludgeon their heads with his Melodic Cudgel.

Mercury flopped on his couch, and Emerald stood beside him, crossing her arms as if he was in _her_ territory.

“So,” Mercury groaned. “Did you finish your job yet?”

“And to what might you be referring?” Roman asked, masking his boiling temper with a thickly delivered tone of sarcasm.

“Research,” Emerald answered. “Specifically on Ruby Rose.”

Mercury peeled himself off the couch with a loud groan and lazily observed his apartment, whistling to himself with his hands resting on his head. If Mercury’s obnoxious behavior bothered Emerald, she didn’t show it. Instead, she shifted weight onto her other foot, eyes drilling into Roman’s.

“No, I’m getting to it.” Mercury wandered into the kitchen.

“A day is plenty time,” Emerald snapped back. “Didn’t you say the same thing about that guy Tukson?”

“I have it under control,” he growled.

“Maybe this is why you haven’t had the time,” Mercury called from the kitchen. He was pointing to two glasses sitting by the sink. One of them was half full. “It’s not like you or your friends not to finish your drink.”

“I wasn’t in the mood.” Roman huffed.

Emerald closed the space between her and Roman, prodding a finger into his chest. “Not until you tell us what you’re hiding.”

Roman swatted Emerald’s hand away. “What, I’m not allowed to have guests?”

“Not if we don’t know about it.” Mercury took a defensive position beside Emerald.

Roman felt the tension in his forehead growing. “I think it’s time for you to leave,” he seethed.

Emerald’s face softened, the condescending glare replaced with one of glib and superficial charm. “Let’s go, Mercury. Cinder’s not going to be happy when we get back.”

“Be sure to give her my best.” Roman flashed a patronizing smile. _I love to see you leave, but I hate to watch you go,_ Roman thought.

When Emerald slammed the door behind them, Roman exhaled.

He didn’t bother washing those two glasses. He didn’t expect company, not now, and especially not then. He reached for the glass he handed to Red, filled with some of the hardest liquor he owned.

Roman didn’t even know what he was thinking when he handed her enough to get a lightweight hammered, but she hadn’t even stayed long enough to take more than one sip. In a way, he was both relieved and disappointed at the same time.

He turned the bottom of the glass up and finished what was left in the glass, bringing it down hard on the countertop. Clearing his throat, he placed both of the glasses at the bottom of the sink and turned to the clock. It was 6:15, which explained the sunset in the horizon.

Roman probably wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep.

~~~~~ 

Roman held the scroll up to his ear. “Hellooooo?”

“Roman, what are you doing?”

“Junior!” Roman exclaimed. “I need to tell you something.”

“Yeah, I bet you do.”

“I’m having trouble abstaining,” Roman slurred, rolling onto his back.

“No kidding. You _called_ Neo. How drunk are you right now?”

Roman went back in his mind to thirty seconds ago when he was dialing Neo’s number. “Oh yeah. Why do you have Neo’s scroll?”

“I’m broke, remember? I’m staying with Neo because I’m out of a job.” Roman could sense Junior’s agitation through the receiver.

“Oh, that’s right,” Roman whispered. “Why don’t you come on over?”

Roman heard shouting in the background before Junior returned. “Yeah, leave your door unlocked and get dressed.”

“I’m wearing clothes,” he objected.

“Sure you are. I’m on my way.”

~~~~~ 

Roman could hear the door to his apartment opening followed by the click of shoes against hardwood flooring.

“You’re late,” Roman drawled.

Neo walked into his room, shaking her head. _Get off the floor,_ she signed.

Roman sat up, groaning loudly. Neo hooked her arm under his shoulder and pulled him onto his feet. When he got his balance, Neo pushed him out of his room.

“Jeez, I’m going, I’m going.” Roman stumbled into the living room, where Junior was helping himself to the alcohol on the table.

“So, Roman,” Junior bellowed. “How much of this are you going to remember in the morning?”

“God, I dunno.” Roman flopped on the couch, Neo sitting at the other end. “Oh my God, I’m gonna have such a headache in the morning!”

Junior shook his head. “No kidding.”

Roman sat up. “Oh, I forgot to tell you! Mercury and Emerald stopped by. Stupid punks,” Roman remarked. “They want me to do research on that Ruby girl. And—get this—she actually—”

“Showed up today, we know,” Junior finished.

Roman squinted. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, that was kind of a joint effort.”

“So you guys told her to go to my house?”

_It’s not a house._

Roman signed, _Kiss my ass,_ and turned back to Junior. “Can you explain to me,” he started, not even sure how he was going to finish his sentence. “How do you—I—what?”

Junior raised a hand to silence Roman. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to that. First, what did you say to her?”

“Get out, basically.”

_Bullshit. You left two cups in the sink, and I highly doubt you let Mercury and Emerald touch your shit._

“I have to, Neo, they’re like my boss’s children. If I tell them no, they tattle on me to Cinder.” Roman threw his arm over the edge of the couch. “I mean, Jesus, honestly, I feel like Cinder is just on the lookout for reasons to kill me.”

“Isn’t she always?” Junior muttered. “Come on, Roman, what happened?”

Roman groaned. “Basically, we agreed to stay out of each other’s way and pretend we don’t know each other.”

Neo and Junior exchanged glances then looked back at Roman.

_Really?_

“Yes, really,” said Roman. “Now, how the fuck are you two involved with this?”

_We told her we need to get everything out into the open. That’s it, I swear._

“We also pointed out the possibility that you might kill her,” Junior added.

Roman scoffed. “In a building full of cameras, yeah, totally.”

“No, I meant later.” Junior took a swig of his drink.

He sighed. “Yeah, no, that’s not gonna happen. Don’t worry.” Roman lay down on the couch, holding a pillow to his chest, thinking about Red as he drifted off to sleep.


	25. Ricoeur

Ruby stood with her arms outstretched as a man in a nice suit adjusted the mechanism around her chest. He buckled something in the back, seemingly content with his work. “All right, go ahead and sit down.”

Ruby was shaking. She looked at the holo-monitor on the desk with wires connecting to a big, black box.

He picked up an external blood pressure monitor, opening it with the sound of Velcro ripping. “Give me your arm, please.”

Ruby lifted her arm, and he wrapped the monitor around her arm as tightly as he could. He got to his feet and walked around the desk. With a glance at the screen, he nodded and left the room without another word.

Ruby looked at the chair she was on. She was sitting at a 90 degree angle to the desk, and the arm rests were made out of blocky cushions that seemed specially made for use with lie detectors. Ruby bit her lip.

The door opened again, and the man she met earlier, Detective Brown, walked in, studying something in a file folder before closing it with the flick of a wrist and taking a seat behind the desk. He pressed the record button on a small tape recorder.

“Miss Rose,” he spoke. “I’m just going to ask you a few questions, and I want you to respond as honestly and as briefly as you can.”

She nodded once in response.

“Okay. Is your name Ruby Rose?”

“Yes.” Ruby shifted in her seat.

“Are you a first-year student at Beacon Academy?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever cheated on a test?”

Ruby remembered what her sister told her: _Lie on one of the baseline questions._ “Yes. I was younger, though.”

Brown smirked. “Okay, now we can get on to the more important stuff.”

 ~~~~~

Yang was waiting for Ruby in the reception area of the precinct. When she saw her sister return from her interrogation, Yang stood up. “Well?”

Ruby stepped over and answered quietly, “I’ve been classified as a witness.”

“Did they ask you any pointed questions?”

“Just if I saw Roman Torchwick.”

“What was your answer?”

“I said I saw the blood, but I didn’t see him.”

“What else?”

“I didn’t see anybody, and I left when I heard shooting.”

Yang nodded. “I think that’s good. You ready?”

Ruby listed her head towards the floor and mumbled, “Mhmm.”

“Let’s go.”

 ~~~~~

“Why do I have the feeling that everyone is avoiding me?” Ruby struck the ping-pong ball with her paddle, sending it to the far corner of the opposite side of the table. Yang returned it with ease, doubling the speed of the ball. Ruby missed by a small margin.

“Maybe because everyone is?” Yang offered.

Ruby scowled and went to pick up the ball. “Not helping.”

“Well, it’s one way of looking at it.”

Ruby threw the ball to Yang.

She caught it with one hand and used the other hand to gesture. “Weiss has already expressed some concern with how you’ve been acting.”

“What? How?”

“She called you ‘Blake-y’. She thinks it just has to do with the bank, though.”

Ruby threw her head back. “Crap, I’m a terrible liar.”

Yang served the ball. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“What else can I do?”

Yang aimed for the edge of the table, but instead, the ball fell to the floor without touching the table. “I don’t know. Tell the truth?”

“Yang,” Ruby whined.

“Yeah, I get it sucks, but the truth is often the simplest way out.”

Ruby fidgeted, picking the rubber off the edge of the paddle.

“And not too late, either. The truth has a funny way of getting out no matter what you do.”

“What do you think I should do?”

Yang tilted her head to the side in thought. “Get her in a public place, unarmed, and come clean.”

“Public? You mean where other people can hear me?”

“Yeah, never mind.” Yang set the paddle down on the table. “But this is your decision. Tell her, don’t tell her, wait for the perfect time, or wait too long.”

“I just don’t know what she’s gonna say.”

“I do.” Yang raised her voice in an imitation of Weiss. “‘I’m your partner! Why didn’t you trust me?’”

Ruby rolled her eyes.

Yang threw up her arms. “If I did something bad, wouldn’t you want to hear from me first?”

Ruby groaned. “You sound like Dad.”

Yang chuckled. “Let’s go eat or something. I’m starving.”

 ~~~~~

“So what did you want to talk about?” Weiss asked. “It seemed urgent.”

“A little,” said Ruby. She followed a step behind Weiss in the halls of their dormitory.

“Is it about the ongoing police investigation with Torchwick? I have to say—this is why I didn’t want to pursue him in the first place.”

“Yeah, I think I’m starting to see your point.” Ruby bit her lip.

After a long pause, Weiss sighed. “You just want to talk?”

Ruby nodded. “I’m still kind of shaken up.” Weiss looked at her with a skeptical expression, but said nothing about what she was thinking.

“I just—this is so hard right now.”

“Dealing with the police?”

“Mostly, yeah.”

Weiss sat up and listened expectantly.

“I told the truth on the lie detector test, but I still feel like they’re going to call me in and ask me more questions.”

“I wouldn’t worry. You’re just a witness, and you didn’t even see Torchwick.”

Ruby shrugged.

“Unless,” Weiss speculated, “that isn’t the truth.”

Ruby didn’t answer, twiddling her thumbs.

“What happened?”

Ruby scratched the back of her neck. “I heard shooting and someone calling for help. When I went in, I found Torchwick bleeding out.”

Weiss’ eyes widened in realization. “You dragged him out.” Weiss opened her mouth, but closed it immediately after. “Why?”

“He wouldn’t have been able to make it out on his own.” Ruby pressed her thumb down massaging in circles on the pad of her hand, wondering if Weiss could tell that there was more to it. “I don’t know what happened.”

Weiss looked at the floor, lost in thought. “Have you told Yang?”

Ruby paused. “Yes.”

“Why would you lie to the police about that?”

She nearly blurted out the typical answer that she gave Yang so many times, but then she realized what Weiss was saying. “I felt like I was guilty of something by helping him.”

“If I’ve learned anything, it’s that feeling guilty and actually being guilty are two very different things.” Weiss gave her a half-smile and stood up. “The police probably won’t fault you for lying. People have a lot of reasons for lying.”

“You’re telling me I should go change my story?”

Weiss held out the palm of her hand. “If they find out that you did lie, what you told them will make it seem like you’re protecting him.”

Ruby stared quizzically at her.

“Tell them. You know, it might actually help them apprehend Torchwick.”

Telling the truth is the simplest way out. That’s definitely true.


	26. Outlast

The fog on the edge of her cup became nearly opaque. Ruby traced shapes like a heart and her symbol on the surface of the up, watching as the condensation returned slowly. Ruby bit the back of her lip and held the skin between her teeth.

She couldn’t bring herself to tell Weiss. The only person she’d managed to tell the truth to was Yang, and all she can really see so far is that Weiss and Yang would disagree. Loudly. Telling the truth was the simplest way out, but was that really what she wanted?

Truth. Why does that word seem so heavy?

Ruby weighed the possibility of the truth getting out against telling her team. But where does it stop? It’s not like she was about to get up on a golden pedestal and confess each and every one of her sins to the word. It’s a little more sensible just to talk to the people you trust.

And it’s not that she didn’t trust her teammates. Ruby was more afraid that Weiss would blow up, Blake would stop talking to her, and Yang would feel betrayed. Ruby sighed— _Yang._ She told her what happened, yeah, but the truth? That went a little deeper. To start, if Ruby had the choice to do it again, she would choose to save his life again. She would get up, lie to her friends, and go out in downtown Vale to risk her own life for a man that probably didn’t even care that she existed.

And that’s another thing entirely. Not even Ruby knew what the truth was, and Ruby was thoroughly convinced that Roman had a firm grasp on reality right now. But if that were the case, Ruby would probably be dead right now. Realistically, that’s exactly the problem. Nothing is happening. No one knows the truth right now, and that’s why no one is doing anything.

This was probably just something to abate the tension of lying to her friends, but Ruby decided she wouldn’t come clean to her friends until she herself knew what the truth really was.

~~~~~

Roman rolled over in his bed, pressing his face into the pillow. His insurmountable headache was topped only by the massing conflict he felt in regards to Red. He needs to sell her out to Cinder, maybe have faith that she can handle herself. But let’s be honest here, if he hands Red on a silver platter to Cinder, she’s fucking toast. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Red had been just about as predictable as the weather, and Roman had quite the solidified generalization of how he felt about her. Roman opened his drawer, removing a cigar from an antique box that he’s had since childhood. Apparently it belonged to his grandfather or whatever. It definitely explains how he died of lung cancer.

Sitting up and adjusting the pillow under his lower back, Roman lit the end of the cigar and picked up his scroll. Junior called at 10 AM, but didn’t leave a voicemail when Roman didn’t pick up. Neo didn’t text or try to communicate with him, but he could probably bet that she took all of his alcohol. Again.

Not that he cared. Roman was planning on making an effort not to use alcohol to solve an alcohol-induced problem. Although, if he kept thinking about what to do with Red, he might find staying dry a little difficult.

He felt like an idiot. Why was this so difficult? Pay someone to take her out. It’s _that simple._

Groaning, he thought to himself, _No, it’s actually not._

If it was, he would have killed her the moment he saw her. But he underestimated her, and he kept underestimating her and her friends, and hell, he’s probably underestimating her right now! It wouldn’t be the first time that underestimating someone would become his downfall.

Either way, he had to find out what exactly he wanted from Red before he did anything, even though Cinder was breathing down his neck.

 ~~~~~

_Ruby opened the door at the end of a dark hallway. Inside, there was nothing but a white feather in the center of the room. The walls were made of concrete, and even though she wasn’t wearing shoes, she expected to hear her footsteps on the floor._

_In the corner, Ruby noticed the dark silhouette of a tall, well-toned man. He uncrossed his arms and stepped forward, but somehow, even in the light, it was still too dark to see who he was._

_He reached out, hand ghosting over her cheek. His hand moved across her jaw, her neck, and her shoulder. His face approached hers, so close in this moment that all she had to do was stand on her toes._

_But the moment passed, and he stepped back suddenly. He shook his head, looking at her with an apologetic glint in his eyes. In a voice all too familiar to her, he spoke._

_“You don’t know what it’s really like.”_

Ruby woke up confused. Gathering the slippery fragments of the dream she just had in her consciousness, she sat up abruptly. That phrase. Ruby has heard it before, but she was never able to place the voice…until now. Ruby’s eyes widened, and suddenly she realized exactly what she hasn’t been saying: Ruby has a crush on Roman Torchwick.

Ruby put her hands over her face and tried to distract herself from what she was thinking. That’s the truth, and now that she knows exactly what it is, Ruby has to fight to keep it hidden. Forever.


	27. Sordid Intention

Ruby had been shaking her leg all throughout class. She tried biting her pencil to distract herself, but that only left her with dents in her pencil and internalized confliction. Watching the clock, she knew that there was only about one minute left of class, but for some reason she dreaded that Professor Port would try to hold them back, talk for longer, or do something that would prevent her from leaving the room. Ruby’s eyes darted to team JNPR.

Ruby knew that if she talked to her teammates about anything regarding Torchwick again, they would start to worry that he’s starting to get to her head. Either way, she needed to talk to somebody about this self-perpetuating problem.

The bell rang, and Professor Port paused. Thankfully, everyone ignored whatever else Port had to say and started packing up their belongings. Ruby gathered her papers and shoved them in her backpack, remiss of how crumpled she would find them later. Slipping an arm through one of the straps on her backpack, she ran to catch up with Pyrrha.

Pyrrha was talking with Nora, who was creating frantic motions with her arms to explain something to her friend.

“Hey, guys!” Ruby called.

Both of them stopped walking and turned around. Nora visibly brightened upon seeing Ruby, and Pyrrha smiled welcomingly.

“Hey, Ruby, what’s up?” Nora responded.

“I was wondering if I could ask you guys for advice.”

“What kind of advice?” asked Pyrrha.

“Well…” Ruby hesitated, playing with the cuffs of her sleeve.

Nora leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Ooooh, you want to talk about boys?” Ruby blushed and reached up to twirl a strand of her hair.

Pyrrha giggled. “Maybe we should go somewhere more private.”

Nora nodded and skipped over to the far end of the hall, leaning on the bathroom door and disappearing into the wall. Blush warming her face, Ruby followed in step behind Pyrrha.

The bathroom, a little colder than the rest of the school, felt strangely safe today. Nora was sitting on the counter, swinging her legs off the edge.

“So who do you have a crush on?” Nora blurted out.

“Nora!” Pyrrha jabbed her in the ribs.

“I—uh,” Ruby laughed nervously.

Pyrrha wove away the question with a flick of her wrist. “Why don’t we start with simpler?” said Pyrrha, a contentious tone pointed at Nora.

“All right,” Nora submitted.

“What specifically are you dealing with?” asked Pyrrha.

“Well, uh,” Ruby shifted. She’d have to choose her words wisely. “The age gap is the first thing.”

“Oh right,” Pyrrha thought. “Is he a first-year?”

“No, he’s a little older than that.”

“Oh, I see,” Nora drew out. “Does he know about you?”

“Yeah…apparently how I got into school here was a whole thing.”

“Yeah, you’re a legend!” Nora exclaimed. “Do you think he likes you?”

Ruby shook her head. “No. He’s kind of annoyed with me, actually.”

“Hmm.” Pyrrha tilted her head to the side. “At the very least, I would try to get to know him. Give it a real chance, but if it’s not meant to be, then oh well. There are other fish in the sea.”

“But what if he’s not interested in getting to know me?” Ruby asked.

“I mean, honestly, I doubt that, but if not, then…” Nora shrugged her shoulders.

“I wouldn’t be so pessimistic about the situation. Any guy would be lucky to know a girl like you.” Pyrrha smiled warmly.

Ruby blushed at the thought. Neither of them knew how messy this situation really was. “It might be a little more complicated than going up and talking to him.”

“How so?” Pyrrha asked.

Ruby thought about how much information she could divulge. “He doesn’t exactly go here.”

“What school does he go to?” asked Nora.

“I never asked. I’m not even sure how old he is. I’ve seen him in a dust shop a bunch of times.” Technically, Ruby wasn’t lying.

“Oh, it’s one of _those,_ ” Nora cooed. “Do you think he goes to college?”

“In that case,” Pyrrha gestured to Nora, “I wouldn’t try to make a move.”

“Yeah, that’s probably the case,” Ruby muttered, barely loud enough for them to hear.

Pyrrha shifted onto her other foot. “Realistically, I can’t stop you from doing anything. But if you do, you better be ready for what people might have to say about it.”

“Personally, I don’t care,” Nora added. “But Pyrrha’s right. Even though you’re gonna be, well, legal in a few weeks, people are going to be _stupidly_ touchy about the whole age gap deal and how you’re not 18 yet, and it’s pedophilia or whatever.”

Attention suddenly piqued, Pyrrha turned and looked at Nora. “Is there something I need to know about?”

Nora shook her head. “No, I just watch a lot of TV.”

Pyrrha raised her eyebrows but dropped the subject. “These things rarely work out, so he better be worth it.”

Ruby nodded, but she was already deep in thought. Nora and Pyrrha hardly knew anything about the real situation, and they still knew enough to determine that she would be under meticulous scrutiny, a malicious spotlight, if the truth ever surfaced. The _truth._ She wasn’t even to the bottom of the rabbit hole yet, but she could still grasp the sheer force of the burden she’d be carrying, the weight of everyone’s stares. Red flags all around her, and Ruby was still considering her options. What the best one was should have been obvious, but…it wasn’t.

~~~~~

Ruby wasn’t exaggerating when she said she wouldn’t notice what was right in front of her, even if it was kicking her in the face. This whole time, she had been absentmindedly thinking about how Torchwick’s skin felt, the curves of his face, and the way his eyes refracted light. Actually, now that she thought about it, that’s probably the reason her grades had been riding a slow decline over the past couple of weeks: she couldn’t pay attention in class.

And now that she knows with full awareness of what was going on in her head, Ruby felt a little disgusted with herself. One would think that she could exercise a little restraint when it comes to these things, have a little decency, but no, she had to pick the most inconvenient guy in all of Vale. Oh, and not even to mention that she’d become a social pariah if word got out. Something nagged in her gut like a poison too stubborn to just fade away. It stuck like glue to her insides. When she said it out loud, so quietly under her breath that no one could hear, it sounded absolutely ridiculous, but in her head, it all felt right. Maybe it’s one of those movie clichés. There’s no logic—just plain human emotion. The only way to understand is to feel it.


	28. Ultimately, Strength

Everyone was right. At the end of the day, when it really came down to it, Ruby was the one who had to make the final decision. Everyone gave her conflicting viewpoints, differing solutions: lie, be honest, do what you really want.

Ruby couldn’t satisfy everyone with one decision, but everyone seemed to know that she is her own person with her own set of messy emotions. She walked past the elevators and made straight for the stairs. If she couldn’t convince herself to turn back in the time that it took to ascend twenty-six flights of stairs, then she wouldn’t do it. Simple as that.

Ruby turned the handle and pressed her weight into the door. She grabbed the handrail and started climbing up the stairs as quickly as her feet would allow her. Her own determination fueled her, and she made it up to the tenth floor without losing her breath. By the time she reached the fifteenth, she had to slow down to pacify her cramping sides.

But Ruby kept going. Even though literally everything and everyone was trying to hamper her efforts, slow her down, prevent her from making this decision, she still persevered. Ruby thought to herself, if that isn’t a sign of Ruby’s sheer determination, then it was a sign that she was about to walk a self-sabotaging path of idiotic humiliation.

Ruby was well aware of the risks, and she hardly even knew if they were really worth it, if _he_ was worth it. Thinking about it only made her feel like she was making one big mistake, and she didn’t like to. If she thought about until she realized her chances were slim, she might just give up entirely. At the twenty-sixth floor, Ruby finally stopped to catch her breath. She often ran as a hobby, but climbing twenty-six flights of stairs without stopping to catch her breath? Brutal.

Wiping the sweat off her face with the sleeve of her school uniform, Ruby stood up and opened the door. A thin layer of sweat coated her skin, but it felt blissful when she stepped into the hallway, the cold caressing the part of her skin that was exposed to the open air.

Ruby let her mind float in space as she executed the directions she created the last few times she’d been here, disregarding the signs completely. She reached the door she was looking for, inhaling deep enough to fill every corner of her lungs and exhaling.

She confidently raised a fist to the door and pounded on the wooden surface. Her stomach dropped, but it wasn’t much worse than the uneasy feeling she’d had in her gut all day. She paced to quell her nerves, to little avail, but Ruby found that it kept her thoughts in check. When nothing happened right away, Ruby walked up to the door again. She rapped her knuckles on the door loudly enough to attract the attention of everyone on this floor. _Maybe that’ll get him to open his door,_ Ruby thought.

She chewed on the inside of her cheek. His apartment was strangely quiet. What in the world could he possibly be doing? Did he even get up to see who was there?

Ruby opened her mouth but shut it. She settled for slapping her open palm on the wood. Her hand certainly paid the price, but she didn’t mind. If Torchwick wasn’t going to open up, then he might as well have to deal with her.

Ruby creased her brows. He was hoping she’d just leave. Even though she was here, tossing their agreement in the wood chipper, Torchwick was still trying to hold up his end. “Oh come on,” Ruby muttered. “Can’t you just go back on your word this one time?”

At this point, Ruby was steaming. Her ears were vibrating, and she was working up the nerve to shout his name until he opened the door. But then he’d have to leave, and then she would never see him again. Not in these circumstances, at least.

“Hey!” Ruby shouted. “I know you’re in there, and I’m not leaving!”

Nothing.

“I wanna talk to you!”

Still, nothing.

“Just open the door, for crying out loud! I know you can hear me!”

Ruby put her ear up to the keyhole. All she heard was the whistling of wind passing through. For a moment, she considered the possibility that he wasn’t home or that he was a really heavy sleeper. But if he was here, and he watched Ruby just give up…

“Hey, come on!” She slammed both of her palms down. “Answer me!”

Balling her hands into fists, she felt tears pricking behind her eyes. She was so frustrated right now. All of these feelings that she’d been suppressing for the past two weeks came rushing to the surface. Ruby sank down, hiding her face from view of the peephole. She couldn’t stop the tears from coming out, and that weight in her gut jumped up into her throat. She pushed the heels of her hands into her eye sockets and refused to let herself cry.

“Just open up,” Ruby whispered.

She pressed off the ground and stood up. If he was going to open the door, he probably would have done it by now. Ruby turned and started to walk away.

Out of her line of sight, Ruby heard the creaking of a door. She stopped moving, but she didn’t turn around.

She couldn’t hear anything save for his voice. “Red.”

Ruby turned around slowly. Her eyes must have appeared sore, and Torchwick probably found her visit annoying at the very least, but even so, he opened his door. His eyes wandered up to meet hers, and he held his glance for a good five seconds before checking down the hall for any bystanders.

He reached for her hand and pulled her inside.

Ruby stumbled into the foyer, running hands through her hair. It was such a bad idea. Holy crap, what on earth was she thinking? Torchwick turned to close the door and lock it.

“I can’t go on like this,” Ruby stammered, voice shattering like glass. “I—I just can’t.” Her lower lip quivered and Ruby felt like she was going to puke.

Torchwick turned and scanned Ruby. He gestured to her current state of being and rubbed his shoulder with his other hand. “Yeah, I know,” he breathed.

“I just—how can you do this? Live a lie?” Ruby felt like sinking to the ground, but she was standing in open space with nowhere to hide. A tear rolled down her cheek, and she immediately swatted it away. “God, what was I thinking?” Ruby grabbed fistfuls of her hair and scrunched her eyes shut.

“I was hoping you’d tell me that,” Torchwick responded.

Ruby shook her head. “I can’t.” If Ruby’s face wasn’t already red from her dramatic overload of emotions, then she would have blushed. Torchwick doesn’t even know why she’s here, aside from audaciously breaking their agreement.

Ruby opened her eyes and found Torchwick standing only three feet away from her, watching her intently. She had a complete meltdown and dumped it on the one guy whose opinion actually mattered. God, she’s an idiot.

Torchwick sighed. “All right, can you at least tell me why you’re here, then?”

Ruby looked up into his eyes, which were all but sympathetic. More tears flowed across her cheeks, but she didn’t look away. What’s the point?

He raised his brows expectantly. “You’ve come all the way across town, made one hell of a ruckus outside my door, went back on our agreement, and you’re telling me that you cannot tell me what the reason is?”

most certainly could, but there was something blocking her throat. She walked further into his apartment, shaking her head and rubbing her arms. She couldn’t control her breathing, and all of a sudden she became too dizzy to keep her balance. Arm anchored on the counter to keep herself upright, Ruby covered her mouth as she gasped for breath.

“Oh, fucking hell,” Torchwick muttered, crossing the room and placing a hand on her back. “Jesus Christ, what could possibly be that bad?”

Ruby swallowed hard. “I’m so afraid.”

Torchwick grabbed her by the forearms and forced her to face him. “Of what? Just tell me.” He did his best to sound reassuring, but it came off more as a threat than a kind gesture.

“The truth,” she whispered. Even though Torchwick was holding both of her arms, her hands were shaking.

Torchwick’s brows knit in confusion. “What do you mean by that? That I saved you, that you saved mine, I don’t get it.”

“No,” Ruby laughed, “I’m sure you don’t.”

His grip on her loosened, and Ruby slipped free. She turned around and dug her nails into her arms, numb to the buzzing in her head.

“Then what do you want?” he asked, tone softened.

Ruby bit her lip and turned on her heel, resolute and impassive in her movements. Stepping up on her toes, she raised a hand to his jaw. Her heart fluttered when she felt her fingers tickle his soft skin. She moved forward closing the space between her mouth and his.

But then the dam broke, and reality came crashing down on her head. Her heart stopped, and Ruby halted. She was so close in this moment that she could feel his breath on her lips, and infinity stretching around them.

His lips parted, and he spoke as softly as his voice would allow. “Are you sure this is what you want?” Ruby scanned his face, his eyes. She couldn’t quite focus hers, but Ruby sensed something in them. A flicker, a spark of the fire inside of him. She focused on her hand. Her fingers were barely hovering over his skin, and she felt the tension, the burning lack of contact. She balled her fingers into a fist and retracted it.

Ruby slid back down to the ground. She could turn back now—it wasn’t too late. All she would have to do is walk out the door and pretend he never touched her heart in the way that he did. She looked up at him, visibly biting her lip. Torchwick—no, Roman appeared as if he was in a trance. He wasn’t lost. He was removed from time completely. This moment was theirs forever, no matter what happened from this point forward.

Ruby broke away, and stepped away. She couldn’t do this. Screw it.

Fingers circled around her elbow and spun her back around. Roman slid his fingers onto her neck, tracing his thumb along her jawline. He didn’t waste any time in closing the gap between them and pressing his lips to hers.

Ruby’s initial reaction was shock, but then she let herself go, closing her eyes and pushing up onto her toes. Electricity numbed her body, starting from her spine and working into the fingertips she pressed into his soft skin.

Roman slid his hands under her arms and picked her up off the ground, setting her gently on the countertop. Ruby slung one arm around his neck and raked the fingers of her other hand through his hair for leverage.

One hand on her outer thigh and the other on the small of her back, Ruby stopped to inhale. Roman took her bottom lip between his teeth and gently tugged. Chills shooting up and down Ruby’s spine, she murmured in response. Roman closed his mouth around her lips and moved to her jawline as he angled her head upward with his thumb under her chin. Ruby’s hand grabbed Roman’s forearm, feeling the muscles beneath his skin twitch as his hand moved. The hand she tangled in his hair slid around to wrap around his shoulder. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, tensing up in anticipation.

He traced his tongue in a line from the middle of her neck to the place where her jaw connected with her ears. When he formed his lips into a circle, pressing them softly against that indentation, she let out a high moan, indicative of how she felt. Hearing how she sounded, Roman chuckled and moved along her neck, pushing her chin in the opposite direction.

A tight coil warmed in her belly, stretching from her heart all the way to her gut, slowly increasing in tension. Ruby was seeing stars in her vision, and her head instinctively tucked into her neck. He lifted away, short of breath. He swallowed, trying that it affected him as much as if affected her.

Ruby snapped out of her reverie long enough to remember that she promised her team that she would go see a movie with them tonight. She turned her head to look at the clock on the oven. “Oh, sh—”

“What is it?” he murmured.

“I’m so late. I’m so screwed.” Ruby hopped off the island, moving to dart out the door and fly down the stairs. Roman grabbed her arm.

“What do you drink?” he asked.

“What?” she spluttered.

“Name something.”

“Uh, I don’t know, milk,” she offered. “I really gotta go.”

He smiled with a bit of ardor pulling up a corner of his mouth. “I’ll see you later, Ruby.”

Ruby softened. She closed in to press one more kiss against his lips. “Bye, Roman.”

She turned and sprinted out of his apartment.


	29. Serendipity

Panting and out of breath, Ruby grabbed her knees and gave herself a minute to compose herself. She was sweating like crazy, wearing her school uniform, and about ten minutes late.

Knowing how punctual she likes everything to be, Weiss was probably having a seizure in the bathroom right now. Ruby brushed aside her sarcastic thoughts and stepped into the theatre. She looked up to the board that displayed the show times, but the one she was looking for wasn’t on there.

Ruby sighed and paid for a ticket for the same movie at a different time. Hopefully whoever was checking the tickets wouldn’t be too stingy about it. Ruby walked past the ticket counter and into the main area, where staff sold concessions and old video games lined up against the wall. Standing in the middle of the open room, Yang was tapping her foot impatiently. She wasn’t one to lose her cool over being late, but showing up in her school uniform might just be enough to tick her off this time.

“Ruby, where were you?” asked Yang, hands placed thumbs-forward on her hips.

Ruby reached around to scratch the back of her neck when Yang’s eyes widened. She pushed Ruby’s hair out of the way and by the look in her eyes, she would guess that Yang was quite aggravated.

Grabbing her by her upper arm, Yang dragged Ruby into the girls’ bathroom. Once inside, Yang squatted low to the ground and checked for people in the stalls. She whirled around and faced Ruby.

Yang hissed as if there was actually someone in the bathroom. “Why is there a _hickey_ on your neck?”

“What?” Ruby slapped her palm over the part of her neck where Roman kissed. She hustled over to the mirror and held her neck out under the light. Sure enough, there was a small mark on her neck that looked like an angry bruise. “Oh, come on,” she muttered.

Yang pulled powder out of her bag and tilted Ruby’s head to the side. As she powdered Ruby’s neck to the best of her ability, Yang lectured her. “When Pyrrha told me that you had a crush on someone, I didn’t think I would have to worry about anything anytime soon!”

“Pyrrha told you?” Ruby whined.

“Well, duh. Speaking of, why did you go to Pyrrha before you talked to me?”

Ruby shrugged. “I’ve already been bothering you guys enough with this whole Roman business.” Crap, why didn’t she say ‘Torchwick’?

Yang made a face in the mirror. “I’m your sister, Ruby. I’m not gonna turn you away because you have a lot of things to deal with.”

“Yeah, well, I just wanted a fresh perspective.”

“There, done.” Yang added the final touches, sealing her powder and dropping it back in her bag. Yang met Ruby’s eyes in the mirror. “Is he the first guy you’ve had a crush on?”

“No, there were others,” Ruby responded.

“Who is he?” Yang said, popping up onto her toes and leaning forward.

Ruby blushed. Yang smiled as Ruby quickly covered her cheeks with her palms.  “I don’t want to tell you.”

“Aw, why not? You already know it’s going well.” Yang gestured loosely to Ruby’s neck. “Everyone else would have, too. So who is he?”

“How much did Pyrrha tell you?” Ruby had to admit that she was a little peeved that Pyrrha went right to Yang, but it’s probably for the best.

“Just that he’s older, potentially by a lot. Can you at least tell me how old he is?” Yang listened eagerly as if she was waiting for juicy gossip.

“Uh…” Ruby bit her lip. “I never asked.”

Yang’s eyes widened. “So this guy could potentially be—”

“No, no!” Ruby waved the image away from her mind. “He’s definitely under 30.”

Yang laughed uneasily. “Ruby, that’s not exactly reassuring.”

Ruby shifted. “I’ll be sure to ask next time.”

Another person walked into the bathroom and moved to the mirror, primping and reapplying lipstick.

“We’re not done talking about this,” said Yang.

“Please don’t tell Blake and Weiss until I figure this whole thing out.”

“You got it as long as I’m convinced you’re doing the right thing.”

 _I guess the truth does have a funny way of coming out,_ Ruby thought.

_~~~~~_

Roman woke up to someone shaking him until he opened his eyes. Neo stood over him with an upsetting expression on her face, holding a rose petal in her hands. Roman couldn’t even swear before Neo started on a vicious tirade incorporating quite colorful vocabulary.

_What the fuck is this shit? Didn’t you say the both of you were going to stay away from each other? God, sometimes you’re reckless, but are you fucking retarded?_

Roman pushed the heel of his hand against his eyes. “Please slow down. It is way too early in the morning for me to be dealing with this shit.”

 _You gotta be fucking shitting me right now. She was_ here, _Roman. Why the fuck was she here?_

“What is the big deal?” Roman asked.

_It’s a big fucking deal because you haven’t been sticking to a game plan, Roman, you got out of fucking prison and you’re practically ASKING to go back! Then the girl who tried to throw your ass under the bus rolls around and you suddenly just decide, hey! Let’s be friends._

Roman scoffed. “Weren’t you the one who sent her the text telling her to go to the East Ordinance Bank?”

_I had no other choice, you fucking asshole. I was speeding at 120 miles per hour in 45-mile speed limit zones to cover your ass. I was doing everything I could to save your ass, and this is how you fucking thank me? By throwing it in my face?!_

“All right, I’m sorry.” Roman sat up. “Look, it’s really not that bad. Neither of us is looking to sell the other out.”

 _And how the fuck do you know that?_ Neo crossed her arms defensively.

“Let’s just say I have good reason.” Roman started to get up.

His head suddenly flew to the side, and he felt a sharp stinging sensation prickling in the left side of his face. “Did you just fucking slap me?”

_Hell yeah I did. Wake up!_

“What are you talking about?”

_I didn’t exactly agree with Junior a few weeks ago when he said your head was on backwards. Now, I’m convinced someone drop-kicked your head in prison._

“I was in solitary confinement, remember?”

_Maybe you went a little crazy. I don’t know what fucking happened, but I’m really concerned that you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing anymore. Now how the fuck are you going to convince me that she isn’t going to be a problem?_

“Neo, chill. Everything’s handled.”

_No, it’s not! You have an assignment that requires you basically to sell her out, and you have still done nothing._

“I’m working on that.”

Neo rolled her eyes.

He sighed heavily. “All the research is done. I just have to figure out what to include and what not to.”

_No. You have two options here: sell Red out or sell yourself out. So what’s it going to be?_

Ruffling the hair on his head, Roman said, “I have everything under control.”

The incredulous look on Neo’s face didn’t dissipate in the slightest. _No. No! No, that cannot be fucking possible!_

“What’s not possible, Neo?” Roman groaned.

_You actually fucking care about her. What the hell?_

“Sue me.”

_Are you seriously willing to throw yourself on Cinder’s chopping block for some girl?_

“Let’s be real, Neo, I’d do it for you.”

_And honestly, I wish that wasn’t the case. Now why the fuck are you risking your neck for some random girl?_

“You really do not want to hear it.”

_Oh, yeah, no, you’re fucking right about that, but this is happening anyway._

Roman rolled on his side, grabbing a pillow and falling back on the bed. He thought about Ruby for the hundredth time since last night. “Fuck my life,” said Roman.

_God’s certainly put it on his agenda._


	30. Collide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the person who explained to me how I could get my documents off of FF.net... thank you so much!!!

The man whose name Roman forgot in the time since he met him stood in the front of the room holding a few simple papers in one hand, resting all of his weight on one foot, hand in the coat of his blazer. He was wearing a polished grey suit that would fit in perfectly with the yuppies dancing around in the business district. Roman guessed that this was to maintain anonymity or to be able to appear in a halfway-constructed apartment complex scheduled for demolition, but the possibility that he just liked to dress in a professional manner was still a valid possibility.

The man spoke after reviewing his notes. "So we can conclude the project to obtain the funds we needed to proceed as a failure. Just recently, we have made the decision that this is not due to Roman's inability to complete the mission but instead however due to third-party interference."

Setting his feet up on the table, Mercury asked, "Do we know who those guys are yet?"

"No," the Nameless Man replied, "We still have no idea who they were or how they obtained that information, which is why we're all here."

"You saying there's a mole?" Roman questioned.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Our original goal for the mission, the documents in that safety deposit box, went missing before the cops had time to respond."

"So someone else wanted the money," Roman thought aloud.

"Not necessarily. We suspect that they may have had the intention of doing more than just showing up to take the money for themselves," the Man said.

"How do you figure?"

"You notified the members you selected for your team days before you intended to complete the mission, correct?" Cinder interrogated.

"Yes," Roman affirmed.

"Whoever had that information must have had days to act, but instead they chose to attack your group mid-operation."

"Are you implying…" Roman drew off into thought. "Their goal was also to kill me? Why?"

"Gee, I wonder why," Emerald chimed, examining her nails as she rotated back and forth in her chair.

"We've decided to establish a new base of operations private to only the people currently in this room."

Roman looked around. Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, and the man standing in the front. "What about Neo? There's absolutely no chance in hell she would have corrupted the mission, at least not in a way that would result in my death."

"For now, we're on our guard, though it is likely she will be in the information loop soon."

Roman sat back in his chair and sighed. The one person he really did trust in this operation is suspected of attempting to corrupt the operation. Great. "Where is it?"

"A storage building for a moving company. It's mainly just a place to park all of their trucks and trailers, but they also have storage units. On the outside, that's all it looks like. But they had two extra rooms that they had no purpose for, so they renovated them into studio apartments to be privately rented out to people coming into Vale cross-continentally for business meetings. There are no cameras, and the only security logs are what codes are punched into the panels to get into the building. You each have your own just to keep track of who comes and who goes. I'll send them all to you in an email. Don't lose them."

~~~~~

Ruby woke up with the same words on her lips as the ones she had woken up with in the past two weeks, "You don't know what it's really like." Ruby touched her lips lightly as she acknowledged the stirring feeling in her gut. Butterflies.

Even though she was wide awake, she rolled over in bed and pulled the sheets up to cover up the blush that spread from her face onto her chest, her ears, and her shoulders. Ruby curled up into bed and remembered the dream with almost vivid recall. Ever since that day in Torchwick's apartment, the dream had changed from a silhouette of a man to a very clear manifestation of Roman Torchwick. The memory of his hands of her body, recreated nightly in her recurring dream of the same man that made her blush all throughout the day, breathed in her mind like its own stubbornly living entity.

After another ten minutes had passed, Ruby got up and hopped out of bed to prepare for school. She was the first one to wake up all week because when she woke up, her face was a dead giveaway to what she was thinking about all night. Yang pointed it out, and all of her teammates dogpiled, thinking that it was the same guy from the dust shop she told Pyrrha and Nora about.

Ruby may have told Pyrrha to keep it a secret, but she can't exactly fault her—she was acting in her best interest. Ruby sighed and grabbed a change of clothes, heading to the showers.


	31. Trinket

Roman flopped face-down on his bed having sent Neo to buy groceries. For the rest of the day, he had absolutely nothing to do, meaning that he would have nothing to do aside from thinking about pointless crap, completely unfettered by any distractions. Roman sat up and surveyed the apartment for anything to do.

Neo wasn't one for decorating; or rather, she wasn't one for buying anything for her apartments. She was the kind of person who preferred to live in a space that had absolutely no personal effects. No TV, no books—not even a damn microwave. He would go out and buy one himself, but most people would be able to recognize him from his mugshot-as it was continually broadcast on the news—and masks were illegal in Vale, so he could kiss ramen goodbye. Neo had taste, sure, but she didn't lay her secrets bare for all the world to see. Or at the very least, the police, when they break down her door.

Normally, Roman would review mission assignments when he was bored, but today, he had none to review. Not even one of Cinder's random assignments that made seemingly no sense at all. The rich tendencies within him to run out the door and go chase after what he wanted pushed him around the room, and Roman was tempted to pull open the door handle and take the fastest train to Beacon's foreground.

Roman picked up his scroll and checked for any new messages, emails, anything. But since five minutes ago when he last checked his phone, nothing new arrived. He opened the information email on the new base of operations. It gave him the address, his specific code, and a map marked with directions and asterisked with instructions on how to enter the building as to avoid cameras. ("Facial recognition isn't what it used to be.")

Roman leaned against the edge of his couch. Hours and hours with nothing to do but think about the one thing he wanted to think about the least.

Ruby Rose.

Groaning, Roman rolled onto the couch and wrapped his arms around one of the decorative pillows. He couldn't afford to get involved with any more entanglements. But then again, he could only hold out for so long. Roman exhaled, submitting to the phosphorescence of the idea of Ruby, turning away any other opposition.

Roman spoke under his breath: "This is going to turn out to be a really lonely evening."

~~~~~

"Sooooo," Yang said suddenly, causing Ruby to jump. "We haven't heard about your new boyfriend in a while. Anything new?"

"Um, well, I haven't really seen him since the night we all went to the movies," Ruby admitted, flipping another page in her textbook, trying to appear at least moderately busy.

"Seriously?" Yang exclaimed, straining her voice to keep the volume low. "You guys haven't even seen each other for two weeks?"

Ruby shook her head.

"So it was just a trip to first base? That's it?" asked Yang.

Unsettled by her crude phrasing, Ruby sought to justify herself. "We're just trying to figure out what's going on. Neither of us really know right now, but I'm pretty sure he wants to see me again."

"Do you mean like another make out sesh?" Yang asked sardonically.

Ruby's face heated as she tried to splutter out the words: "No, like a date!" And as quickly as they escaped her mouth, Ruby clapped a hand over her mouth and looked down at her feet. Yang giggled excitedly as she watched Ruby try to figure out what she really meant.

"Ladies," Professor Port called.

Yang struggled to compose herself into the proper manner of a student in the classroom, answering, "Yes?"

"Can it wait until after class?" His eyes shifted to Ruby, who was hiding her face under the desk.

Yang nodded her head in exaggerated motions. "Yes, of course."

Professor Port watched them for a few more seconds, Yang clearing her throat, before he turned back to the front of the room to explain the notes on the board.

Ruby placed her hands over her burning cheeks as she looked back up at the board. No, she certainly hadn't meant a date. She couldn't go publically anywhere with him given his current status with the law, and now that she had said that, that's exactly what Yang's going to be expecting.

She wasn't lying, either. She had no idea what was going on, and Roman probably didn't either. It was just one big confusing pile of emotions that she wasn't prepared to sort out on her own.

~~~~~

Heart in her throat, mind in tumultuous haze, Ruby raised a fist to the door to knock. She rapped her knuckles as lightly as she could, so lightly that she thought she might not have been heard. She inhaled deeply, shook out her wrist and lifted her hand to knock again. Before her knuckles made contact, the door opened, Roman standing in the doorway. He wouldn't meet her eyes.

Covering his mouth, he stepped aside, allowing her to enter, and Ruby did so looking back at Roman with a confused expression. He appeared deep in thought, but he wasn't saying a single thing.

Finally, when the silence became uncomfortably tangible, Roman spoke. "Well, Red? What are you here for?"

"What?" Ruby breathed. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you here?" Roman clarified. He crossed his arms, eyes frozen on her with an icy layer frosted over.

Ruby tried to say something, but she couldn't come up with anything to say in response to a retort as sour as his. She looked down at the buttons on the vest of her school uniform, pulling at them with her fingers nervously.

Roman sighed and strolled into the kitchen. "All I have right now is low-fat."

Ruby turned as he walked by. "You mean milk?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he opened the fridge and held up a pint-sized jug of milk as explicative evidence.

Ruby sauntered over awkwardly, opening her mouth to say something but closing it before any words formed. Roman poured her a glass of milk and handed it to her wordlessly. Ruby sipped quietly, holding back a comment on how much she hated low-fat milk.

After a moment, Roman shook his head and pinched his nose. "That's unfair. I shouldn't put you on the spot like that." He lowered his hand and raised his eyes to meet hers. "That was inappropriate."

"I wouldn't really call what you just did inappropriate," Ruby muttered.

"No, not that. What I did the last time you were here." Roman bit the back of his lip, waiting for Ruby to respond.

"Oh," Ruby exhaled. "I—uh, okay."

"We're not on the same page," Roman muttered to himself. "I shouldn't have…done that."

Ruby shifted to the side. "I don't care," she whispered.

"For god's sake, how could you not?" He shouted. Ruby's head snapped back up to his. "I'm a criminal, and you're a student at the school training the kinds of people who get off on putting me in jail."

"You think I don't understand that?" Ruby started.

"Yeah, I don't think you fucking understand. I've tried to kill you twice. Everyone you know is trying to put me away. You're a huntress, and I'm a criminal. What about that doesn't say bad idea to you?"

"You know what?" Ruby yelled. For a brief moment, Roman was taken aback by the sheer force of her vocal chords. "I have spent the past month trying to tell myself that. And every single time I say it to myself it's like I'm even surer that this is what I want."

"And what's that?" he asked, leaning in so his face was mere inches away from here.

"You!" Ruby shouted. She knew her cheeks were turning red, but she didn't care.

Roman rolled back on his heels, studying his face. He ran a hand through his hair. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby spluttered, following him as he walked around to the couch and sat down.

"Well, to start, you're fifteen."

Ruby rest her hands on her hips, thumbs forward. "And?"

"You have next to no conception of what kinds of consequences this could have."

"Oh you've been in this situation before?" Ruby chirped.

"No, but," Roman started.

"Then how could you have any more of an idea of what would happen after all this? And please don't say that you're older."

"I have more experience with these kinds of things," Roman explained, struggling to keep a handle on his calm façade.

"Well here's the deal. I already have a solid idea of what the consequences are for this decision, and they don't matter because I still want to make it. All that's really left is if this is something you want." Ruby's heart leapt into her throat, realizing whatever happened next was entirely up to Roman.

Roman closed his previously parted mouth and rested his head on his fingers, pressing into his temples. "You don't know what it's really like."

Ruby's knees felt like water. Flashes of all of her dreams popped into her head, flying by and making her feel like there was a whirlwind in her stomach. She lifted her hands from her hips, quietly stepped over and kneeled directly in front of him, placing a hand delicately but firmly on his knee.

"Then teach me." Ruby breathed, tilting her head up to meet his gaze.

She caught a glimmer of his gaping face before he managed to compose himself, closing his mouth and running a hand through his hair. From this angle, Ruby could see the scar under his eye clearly—two parallel lines etched into the skin on the day they met.

Ruby reached up and traced two fingers across his scar. She felt the muscles in his thigh tense, but he didn't move away from her touch. Instead, he watched her with focused eyes, locked onto Ruby's.

After the moment passed, Ruby's hand drifted away from his skin. Roman removed his hand from his head and grabbed Ruby's forearm. He pulled her arm closer to his face until his lips brushed across the skin on her wrist. Butterflies swirled in Ruby's stomach as he pressed his mouth to her skin, closing his eyes, sliding his hand along Ruby's to intertwine his slender fingers with hers.

Roman opened his eyes in time to see Ruby biting her lip ever-so-slightly, something that teased so gently at Roman's eyes like the familiar flush on her face. Actions so coy that he had always seen on women on fashion posters or in romance movies he watched when he was younger belonged so effortlessly on her face.

_You're beautiful._

The words froze in the back of his throat, and he found himself unable to speak them. Instead, he spoke, "You should probably go. I'm expecting someone back soon, and if she sees you, she will likely be very unhappy."

Ruby's eyes clarified like they had been awoken from some dream-like trance. Like the surface of water, the rippling change in her face evidenced the reforming of her consciousness.

Ruby stood up, rolling her shoulders a few times. "Will I see you again?"

Roman looked up at her. He smirked. "Of course you will."


	32. Lehane Risen

Just then, a knock came at the door. Ruby jumped and Roman swore under his breath. He turned to Ruby. "Go hide in the closet in the bedroom. I'll try to get rid of her."

Ruby frantically looked to the door and back to him. He nudged her arm and quietly whispered, "Now! And don't use your semblance."

Quickly enough that made Roman believe she ignored what he had just said, Ruby turned on her heel and took silent strides to the other side of the room, opening and closing the door as quietly as possible. Roman performed a quick sweep to check that she left no petals on the ground, of which there were none. Sighing, he stepped to the door and opened it without looking through the people.

 _Shit,_ Roman thought.

Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald stood in the doorway.

~~~~~

Ruby slowly pulled the sliding door shut and flipped the light switch off. She immediately noted the smell of perfume, much stronger than it was in the bathroom. Ruby looked along the shelves above the shoe racks and found a collection of cologne bottles. He had quite a few, and all of the caps were removed from the bottles. When she stood on her toes, she could see that all of the caps were shoved to the back corner of a shelf. The brands were all high-brow things that Ruby couldn't even afford. And they were all women's perfumes. Ruby lowered back down onto her heel, confused. The general aroma that hung in the air didn't smell like what Roman usually wears at all, and he must not have lived here long if there wasn't a lot of food in the fridge.

_Does Roman not have a place of his own to stay? Or is this an apartment that he stole?_

On one hanger, Roman's classic white coat hung. She stepped closer and held the cuff in her hand. She brought it up to her nose and inhaled deeply through her nose. She immediately recognized the smell. It brought up memories of the time when Roman placed the end of his gun under her jaw, and then of the time she had broken out into tears and the moment when Roman kissed her. The smell itself, which used to set her on edge, was now comforting, and it eased the rolling anxiety in her stomach.

Ruby dropped the sleeve and sat down with her legs crossed, trying to stay as quiet as possible. In the relative darkness, the sounds from the next room became much clearer. She picked up a few phrases here and there, but mostly just Roman when he said, "None of you told me that you were coming today."

She scooted across the floor and pushed the dangling pant legs out of her face, pressing her ear to the wall to better hear what was happening on the other side of it.

A masculine voice Ruby didn't recognize spoke next. "Well, I mean, what better do you have to do."

"Quiet," another one said. "Roman, unless you have somewhere to be, sit down."

A moment later she spoke again. "The room is still being set up. The account has to transfer or something else along those lines. So until that happens, we meet here instead."

"Can you do me a favor and let me know next time? Neo is going to be over soon."

"Perfect. She should participate in this discussion, too."

"How long is this going to take?" Roman's voice again, but this time a little bit louder.

"A few hours."

Ruby sighed in an exasperated manner. She pulled out her scroll and a pair of headphones, backing up to the furthest end of the closet. Deciding she would watch a movie, Ruby settled in, trying to decide on one that wouldn't make her laugh.

_I guess it'll be a while._

_~~~~~_

"Okay, we can move on from the few technical difficulties involving the Vytal Festival," Cinder announced. "Now we need to consider another problem."

"Ruby Rose," Emerald scowled.

Roman's heart skipped a beat. "Wait a second, why are we talking about R-Red?" He mentally kicked himself for nearly saying "Ruby".

Cinder quirked an eyebrow. "She is becoming increasingly involved with our operation. If she continues to interfere, we may face bigger challenges in the future. In addition, I have finished reviewing the file you composed, Roman."

Mercury didn't bother to finish the bite of his sandwich in his mouth before speaking. "But what can we really do about it? It's not like we can off her. Team RWBY is lined up to compete in the festival, and if they decide to delay it because of a murder, then," Mercury finished his thought with a gesture: a thumb dragged horizontally across the skin of his throat.

"Well what if she has an 'accident'?" Emerald proposed.

"Oh please." Mercury swallowed. "All she'd have to say is 'I was set up,' and an investigation is opened. People will probably speculate in favor of cheating to get ahead in the tournament."

"I don't mean injury," Emerald concluded.

Cinder rolled the thought over in her head. "Like Mercury said, they might delay the tournament if she were to be murdered now. But if we did something about her after it begins…" Cinder paused to gauge the reaction of her audience. Roman's stomach lurched, but he decided not to say anything. "…then maybe we won't have a problem after all."

Roman chose his words carefully. "Is she really worth that much trouble? I mean, the bitch screwed around with the train operation, but I'm inclined to believe that when all of this goes down, she'll be curled up in a corner like all the rest of them."

Cinder took a breath, maintaining eye contact with Roman as he fell back in his seat and quietly hoped that she didn't suspect anything. Cinder narrowed her eyes, but if she was suspicious, she didn't say anything. Roman could never see anything in those eyes. They may be beautiful, but they're as dead and lifeless as his parents.

"Fine. We'll hold off on further action for now. But now that we're settled, then this meeting is adjourned."

Neo lifted up from her chair and sauntered over to the table while Junior stayed seated and took another swig of his drink. Neo signed something at Cinder.

"What does that mean?" Cinder asked with a blank tone, turning to Roman.

"Goodbye," Roman answered. Junior smirked.

"I don't get it. Couldn't she just wave or something?" Mercury asked.

"There are many ways of saying goodbye in sign language, just like there are in the English language," Roman supplied. It was more of a rough translation.

Emerald rolled her eyes and stood up, soon followed by Mercury. Neo, Junior, and Roman remained silent and still as they watched them collect themselves and walk out the door.

"I think you've had too much to drink, Neo," Junior said. It was the first thing he said since he had arrived. He had communicated with Neo via sign language for the next few hours after they made a decision not to involve themselves in their conversation.

"'Later, cunt?' Really, Neo?" Roman sighed.

Neo smiled and finished off what was left in her glass. _"You mind if we stay longer? I really wanted to help you clean out your cabinet."_

"I was really hoping on getting some alone time, actually," Roman responded, rubbing his forehead and looking down at the floor. Junior scoffed.

"What?" Roman asked. "These things exhaust me."

 _"_ _She can join us."_ Neo signed.

Roman stood stunned for a moment. He closed his gaping mouth when Neo started signing again.

_"_ _She was snoring when I went to use the bathroom. You're pretty lucky these walls aren't paper-thin."_

Roman was actually lucky not to have seen her barge out of the closet in a rage shouting how she'd been sitting there for hours. They'd have both been dead by now if she had. He looked out the window. The sun had set, and her friends were probably worried about her.

After walking into his bedroom, he immediately noticed that the blanket that covered the duvet was missing. Roman opened the door to his closet and saw Red's legs, covered by the blanket, toes poking out from under the edge. Opening the door further, he took in new details: Ruby's boots set by her knees, a scroll and headphones set to the side, and her head, resting on top of his coat.

Biting the back of his lower lip, he kneeled down in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder. For a moment, he watched her, slowly inhaling and exhaling, but every moment he spent was another moment that would raise Neo's suspicion. So he sighed and shook her shoulder gently.

"Ruby, wake up," Roman said. He shook her more vigorously.

Ruby's eyes fluttered open and as soon as she realized she was conscious, she spluttered, "Weiss, I'm awake!"

"What?" Roman asked. He recalled the name of one of her teammates, the skinny one in the white dress.

Ruby took time to regain her senses and looked up at Roman with drooping eyelids. "Oh, sorry. My scroll ran out of battery." She pulled herself up off her bed and lifted Roman's coat off the ground.

"I'll get that." Roman gently removed the coat from her hands and pushed himself up. Ruby sat up and watched him hang the coat on the rack with delicate precision. When he finished smoothing out the fabric, he kneeled down and picked Ruby up and set her on the bed.

"Wait a second, I gotta get back to school," Ruby drawled.

"You can't," Roman said, noting the time on his bedside alarm clock. "Last air taxi leaves in five minutes."

"They have emergency ones. I can just get one of those or something," Ruby pulled the blanket off her body.

"Those are only from Beacon to Vale. They don't have any on standby at the dock in eastside Vale."

Ruby scrunched her nose. "How do you know that?"

Roman picked up her scroll and plugged it into a charger on the other side of the bed. "I did a little research a while ago. Once upon a time, I thought about going there myself."

"Why didn't you?" Ruby asked, curiosity piqued.

"My request for financial aid was declined and my foster parents weren't volunteering." Roman sat down on the other side of the bed and looked at Ruby.

"Oh," Ruby murmured, breaking her gaze and staring at the ceiling.

"Do you want to come in and have a drink with us?" Roman proposed.

"I thought your friend wouldn't be happy if she knew I was over here."

"Thankfully, she's too intoxicated to care. But tomorrow, she will be more than sober enough to tell me how much of an idiot I am."

Ruby mulled it over in her head. "I don't know…I actually really hate low-fat milk."

Roman chuckled. "Yeah, I'm working on that."

Ruby smiled, but it faded as she realized the situation she was in. "I don't have anywhere to sleep," she muttered.

"You can take the bed. Do you want any water or anything? I don't have much in terms of food." Roman stood up.

"I'll take water," Ruby said.

A small grin gracing the features of his face, Roman gave a slight nod and walked out of the room.


	33. Risen: Epilogue

Roman inserted a dollar bill into the slot and selected "B3" on the keypad. In the one to the direct right of the vending machine he was using, he pushed four quarters into the coin slot. He waited for the first machine to vend the water before he would push buttons in the next.

He turned over the bottle in his hands and realized how weird his situation was. A couple months ago, he was robbing dust shops and running from the cops, and his only saving grace was that he wasn't high enough of a priority to the Vale Police Department to actively pursue. But now they had launched a kingdom-wide manhunt, and even if things did quiet down, he would probably remain the VPD's top priority.

But even so, his days passed very quietly, in the same routine. Neo and Junior stopped by everyday—an occurrence that didn't happen before his incarceration and subsequent escape—to bring by food, water, drinks, and money if he had run out the day before. But just about everything he had in his fridge disappeared by the time Mercury, Emerald, and Cinder left. His work was the only thing that shifted continuously forward.

The part of the city Roman lived in was so busy at nights that he couldn't risk going out at night and being recognized. He used to not care at all, have a backup plan, but those were back in the days when Cinder needed him to pull heists and when he lived in a part of town where he could dress in his signature bowler cap and white coat, and no one would care enough to do about it. But those times had passed, and Neo most likely had the intention of keeping him in the same building to avoid more run-ins with the police.

And then there was Ruby. The only thing that didn't recur as part of a set pattern; when she came over to his house, the first feeling that came up was excitement, soon followed by disgust, annoyance, distrust and the slightest twinge of guilt. The fact that she was fifteen should have bothered him. Instead, the disgust culminated as a combination of the fact that she had expressed quite clearly her interest in him. For some reason, the thought of her becoming as close to him as Junior and Neo were sent Roman's head spinning. And as always, there was the possibility that she was planning to turn him in to the police. But she has had his address this entire time, and if it was as simple as calling the police and that was in fact her intention, then why hadn't she gone through with it?

Roman bent over to retrieve the two items he purchased and made the walk back to his apartment.


	34. There's a First Time for Everything

Ruby lay quiet in Roman's bed, gently holding her index finger between the two rows of her teeth. Roman had left to retrieve water for her two minutes ago, but she had not moved from the spot she was currently in since then.

A part of her was completely still, postulating that she was still because she wanted to be, because she needed the rest and she was tired. But the other contended that it was because of the two people in the other room—Junior and Neo. She wasn't quite trusting of them, and even though they encouraged her to make her own decision, Ruby felt like they did not approve of her choice, no matter how cautiously or incautiously she went about it.

Though she could be making it all up in her head, and they might respect her for showing confidence in her decision. So Ruby sat up, pulled the blanket aside, and set her feet down on the floor. She paused to let the dizziness fade, or maybe just to calm her nerves, but in a few seconds she was up and walking into the next room.

The creaking door alerted Neo and Junior to her presence, her face in the crack between the door and the frame. Upon looking at Ruby standing in the door, Neo looked away, bored. Junior amicably waved her in and nonverbally suggested that she sit down and enjoy their company.

Neo signed something to Ruby.

"She says, ' _Evening,'_ " Junior translated.

Ruby nodded. "Hi," she responded meekly.

"Roman should be back soon. The vending machines are on the twentieth floor, so it'll take some time." Junior patted the seat next to him on the couch as Ruby stood awkwardly in the foyer.

As Ruby circled the couch and seated herself at the furthest end of the couch, Junior asked, "Exciting day?"

Neo huffed.

"U-uh, I guess you could say that, but really, I was napping, like, the whole time," Ruby answered.

Neo looked up at Junior and signed something. Junior nodded in response.

Ruby's eyes shifted from Neo back to Junior. "What'd she say?"

Junior sighed. "Neo is convinced you don't trust us."

Neo gave him a "What the heck?" look and crossed her arms. Ruby looked to her hands in her lap and picked at her school uniform.

"Look, kid," Junior said, getting Ruby's attention, "All three of us—Roman, Neo, and I—knew you were in the closet, and our boss would have flipped if she knew that you were in the closet eavesdropping the whole time."

Ruby clarified, "I wasn't even listening—"

"Doesn't matter. She would have killed you on the spot either way." Ruby averted Junior's hard look. "We all could have given you up, but we didn't. That enough jeopardizes Roman's life more than it does yours, so feel free to sleep a little easier tonight."

Ruby looked to Neo, who nodded once upon making eye contact and looked away. For the next few moments, all of them remained completely silent, letting the heavy feeling hang in the air.

Ruby broke the silence. "If it puts Roman's life in danger, why didn't you?"

Junior smiled and responded, "I think you already know."

Before Ruby could ask what he meant, the door opened and Roman appeared with bottled water in one hand and a granola bar in the other. "All right, guys," he announced, holding the door open, "It's time for you to leave. Neo, I expect nothing less than an empty fridge."

Neo waved and stood up, slapping the sides of her thighs to entertain herself as Junior took his sweet time in lifting himself off the couch. Ruby sat still and ignored the quizzical look that Junior gave her. It quickly dissipated, but as he walked by Roman, he stopped to whisper something in his ear.

Roman responded with, "You won't need to worry." When the both of them had sauntered out the door, Roman closed the door and locked it.

Roman turned around and examined Ruby's state of dress as he approached her. "I'll get you a t-shirt to sleep in. Are you wearing spandex shorts under your skirt?"

Ruby shifted her feet, a blush flowering on her cheeks. "No."

Roman smirked and jerked his head in the direction of his room. "Come on. I need to take a shower before I go to bed. After that, room's all yours."

"Wait, you're not gonna sleep on your own bed?" Ruby asked, confused.

Roman chuckled. "Are you inviting me to sleep with you?"

"No!" Ruby spat out. "Of course not."

Roman shrugged, setting down the water and chips on the nightstand. "If you say so."

Ruby bit the back of her lip and watched Roman sling a towel over his shoulder before he proceeded to the bathroom. When she heard the lock click, Ruby took the water in her hands and opened the cap. The gentle sound of rain on the windows soon picked up into a roar.

~~~~~

Roman finished showering and opened the door into his room, first taking note of the rain. "How long ago did it start raining?" he asked. The second thing he took note of was the scramble Ruby made to cover up her bare legs. He looked at her and smirked.

Her face, as red as the claim to her name, was telling of her modest embarrassment. "I think twenty minutes," she answered.

Covered only by the towel around his waist, Roman patiently strolled to the other side of his room to scrutinize his reflection in the full-length mirror. He looked at her, but she seemed to be trying her best to keep her eyes off him as she hugged the duvet tightly to her chest.

Roman had just picked out a pair of underwear when Ruby suddenly said, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure, one sec." Roman slid them up his legs underneath the towel until they were around his waist, and then he unwrapped the towel from his torso and began to towel dry his hair. "What is it?" Roman asked, approaching the bed.

Ruby let the duvet fall from her chest. "Does it bother you that I'm—" Ruby stopped herself, reaching for a strand of her hair and holding it tightly between her thumb and forefinger. "That I'm, uh, you know," Ruby trailed off, looking at the pillow instead of him.

Roman leaned forward. "Fifteen?"

Ruby bit her lip and nodded, not looking up at him.

He sighed. "Do you really want to have this conversation while neither of us is wearing pants?"

Ruby blushed at the implication, responding, "What would it change if we were?"

Roman swallowed, letting the silence draw out a little further before responding. "Look at me."

Her gaze pulled away from the pillow on the other side of the bed and slowly made its way to his legs on the bed and finally up to his face. Roman raised his eyebrows, and Ruby nodded her head.

Taking a deep breath, Roman answered, "It should bother me that you're fifteen, but it doesn't. Frankly, I'd be more concerned about the experience gap rather than the age one."

Ruby shifted silently, raising her hand to scratch the back of her neck. "Then does it bother you that I've never…done that?"

"You can say it, you know."

She took a moment to revise her question. "Am I the first virgin you've ever really been with?"

Roman exhaled. "I usually only slept with women who have had sex before. I have never really been in a serious relationship with anyone."

Ruby's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, really?"

"Don't act so surprised—a full time criminal rarely has time to create dedicated, meaningful commitments outside of evading the law."

"Yeah, I guess you're right…what does that make me, then?"

Roman chewed the inside of his cheek. "The first."

Her body loosened visibly upon hearing him say that. However, he felt even tenser telling her that she was, in essence, his first real romantic relationship.

"I just want to know what this is, what we're doing."

Roman smiled slightly. "Me, too." He lifted himself up off the bed and stepped closer to Ruby. Gently leaning down, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead and tucked wayward strands of hair behind her ear. "Good night."


	35. Oh, Crap, What's My Line?

As soon as her scroll turned on, Ruby received notifications of every missed call, text and email she got from each of her teammates, but most especially her sister. She swiped all of them out of her notifications feed and opened up the chat with her sister. Small fragments of golden light pooled in corners, soaked her bare skin and reflected from her hair. No longer distracted by Vale's brilliant skyline, Ruby typed up a message that would assure Yang that she was just fine.

She sent to Yang: " _Hey, I'm at a friend's house in Patch. I couldn't catch the return trip in time, so I'm staying over. I'll see you in the morning. I love you."_

Yang's response was almost immediate. " _Jesus Christ, couldn't you have told me where you were going? We were all freaking out! You're lucky I convinced them not to worry and not to rat them out to the admin."_

_"_ _We don't have classes tomorrow, right?"_ Ruby sent.

_"_ _No, we don't, and you better be thankful. At least get some rest. Good night."_

Ruby sighed and opened up Weiss's messages. They were all threats to rat her out to the administration that, luckily, she supposedly did not act on. Blake's were all messages telling her to be safe and not to go outside at night. The screen's brightness made her eyelids heavy, so she turned off her scroll, set it on the side of the bed, and listened to the sounds of the rain.

* * *

Roman slept deeply on the couch. He didn't snore, so the sounds of the rain were all that could be heard the apartment until Ruby opened the door and stepped into the kitchen as quietly as she could, feet slapping the hardwood as quietly as she could get them to.

Ruby opened the fridge slowly and rummaged through the few food options available. When she realized most of it had expired, Ruby grabbed the milk carton and held it up. The expiration date was three weeks ago. No wonder it tasted terrible earlier.

"Can't sleep?"

Ruby jolted, dropping the milk carton on the floor. Roman stood up and walked over to the kitchen island. Ruby shook her head no.

"I was sleeping pretty well. I wish I wasn't such a light sleeper."

Ruby bit her lip. "I'm probably gonna go back to bed soon."

"You think it's going to make a difference?" Roman asked.

Ruby shrugged.

Roman's eyes flickered down, looking at the carton of milk Ruby dropped on the floor. "Milk might help."

"It might help, yeah, if it weren't expired," Ruby remarked.

Roman sighed, "That explains a lot."

Ruby closed the door to the fridge.

"Hey, mind if I use the bathroom before you go back to bed?" Roman yawned.

Ruby shook her head slowly, and Roman nodded before strolling patiently to the bedroom door. Absentmindedly, Ruby followed him, stretching her arms over her head. In the back of her mind, she thought of how weird it was that she felt at home in Roman's apartment. But given how tired she was, she let the feeling dissipate when she fell facedown back onto Roman's bed.

Roman shut the door behind him right as Ruby rolled over to look at the ceiling. She lay there without moving a muscle, hoping for sleep to come soon. By the time she heard the toilet flush and Roman closing the bathroom door, she had gone from eternally bored to the slightest twinge of nervous.

"Hey," Roman murmured. "You aren't going to sleep, are you?"

Ruby took a deep breath before answering. "Yeah, I don't know, I think taking a nap hurt my chances of getting a good night's sleep."

Roman sat down on the bed next to her. "Once I wake up, it's extremely difficult for me to get back to sleep."

Ruby looked over at him. His hair was pushed out of his face, scar completely unobstructed. "Insomnia?" she asked.

He nodded.

Ruby kept her eyes fixated on him. When he looked back at her, Ruby was so beat that her only reaction was a flutter in her stomach. "Are you scared?"

Roman smirked. "Of what? Law enforcement?"

Ruby rolled over and looked up at him, propped on her shoulders. "Me."

Immediately bursting out into laughter, Roman fell back on the bed and covered his mouth in an attempt to stop himself. Ruby blushed, frustrated, but she sat up and looked at him with a stern look in her eye.

"To answer your question, no," he chuckled, finally calming himself down.

Ruby exhaled, "I didn't mean it that way. You basically ran out of our conversation earlier when I asked you what this was."

Setting his jaw, Roman sat up and frowned at her. "You didn't ask me anything."

"Either way, you just ran out," Ruby accused. She noticed that with each word that came out of his mouth, he seemed more and more uncomfortable.

"It's not a conversation we should be having in our underwear." Roman pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I don't care. Do you?" Ruby raised her eyebrows.

"Fine," Roman strained, pulling his hand away from his head. "What do you want to hear from me? That this scares me?"

Ruby shrank back at Roman's words. He was shouting at her.

"It _does._ You're the first person who has ever made me feel like I'm going to throw up when you're around. I lose sleep over how nervous you make me, and I can't stop thinking about you. I have nothing else to do while I'm sitting here all day. It literally _hurts_ to even look at you _._ Are you happy?" Roman held her bewildered stare for a moment and stood up violently, taking long and quick strides to the door, immediately regretting what he just said.

Ruby reached across the bed, grabbed his wrist before he could make it to the door and pulled him back to the bed. Pulling herself to her knees, she reached to turn his chin towards hers.

"Yes, I am happy," Ruby whispered.

She placed her mouth delicately on his, moving her lips slowly. She pulled away and sat down on the bed, gazing up at the gleam in his eye.

Roman ran a hand through his hair. "God, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. I'm glad you said it."

Roman's eyes were drawn back to Ruby's face, kind and honest. Every single thought and utterance melted away under her soft but relentless gaze. He placed a knee on the bed and pushed her down to the blanket.

Ruby grabbed him by the hair and their lips crashed together as Roman dove down on top of her. One of his hands slid along her waist, and one of hers wrapped around the back of his neck.

Ruby licked a line up the side of Roman's neck and tugged at his earlobe with her teeth. The moans she elicited from him electrified her spine and made her feel euphorically numb, a sensation only perforated by the thundering sound of the rain pattering against the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The feeling of her shirt being pulled up snapped Ruby back to reality. "Wait," she gasped.

Roman immediately stopped, worried by her tone. "What is it?"

"I'm not, uh—" Ruby stammered. "Um…"

"Not what?" he breathed.

"I'm not ready for that," she muttered.

Roman's brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Ruby looked down at her shirt, pulled all the way up to her clavicle, leaving her bra on full display. She tugged the hem back down before Roman saw what she was talking about.

"Oh," Roman realized. "I swear I wasn't trying to—"

Ruby shook her head, flustered. "It's okay. Don't worry about it."

Roman leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Good night, Ruby."


	36. Sharper Than the Diamond That Cuts Flesh

"So I'm not a pervert, right?" Roman set down his coffee on the table. To his surprise, it was the first time that he had drank anything caffeinated in a long while. Neo sat perched on the countertop with a bag of bagels in her lap, listening intently.

Neo shrugged. " _I don't think so. I mean, you stopped when she told you to, right?_ "

"Yes, but I didn't even consider to _ask_ first-she's 15 for fuck's sake."

" _You've only ever dated girls who had experience._ "

"Dated," Roman scoffed, taking another sip of his coffee.

" _My point is that you're not used to taking things slow in a relationship-or relationships, for that matter. You're not a pig for expecting something you usually get to expect._ "

Roman sighed. "If it were you, how would you have wanted me to handle it?"

" _You know how I lost my virginity, and you know my perspective doesn't mean shit in this situation."_

"Either way, your bet would be better than mine," Roman growled. Neo's right. The only reason she felt apprehension about her first time was because she didn't tell the guy to be even remotely gentle.

Neo tilted her head back and thought about her answer. She raised her palms and signed, " _I can tell this girl's worth it. She's the first person to show that she gives a fuck about you that you haven't pushed away. If I were you, I'd wait."_

His bangs fell in his face as Roman tilted his head down. "How frustrating," he groaned. "I'm dating a fifteen year old girl and I'm the one who doesn't have experience."

* * *

Turning another page in her notebook, Ruby struggled to push the thought of Roman out of her head. Not that it was new to her, but that her feelings towards him were mixed startled Ruby. She wanted nothing more than to pretend last night never happened and that she didn't sneak out of his apartment before he woke up and didn't leave a note to say she was leaving to go to school. Ruby wanted to go back and talk to him, to explain herself, but Roman was probably busy with whatever work showed up at his door yesterday.

What bothered her less was how Roman's associates came to meet with him in his apartment and forced her to hide in the closet. Completely ironic how Ruby was less afraid of the people who want to hurt her rather than the one person she trusted not to. She wasn't even sure that she could look him in the eye, but she still wanted to run right back to him and tell him that he didn't do anything wrong-the clichéed "It's not you, it's me" talk. Though, Ruby's last intention was to break up with Roman even though she's not entirely sure if she could call whatever she has with him a "relationship".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONSENT. IS. KEY. Rest assured that there will be absolutely no rape or sexual assault in this story. CONSENT IS KEY.
> 
> also...thanks again to that person who pointed out that amazing thing I could have done and I just didn't fucking know about it (Thank you!!!)


	37. The First Wave

"You're okay, though, right?" Yang asked, placing her hands on Ruby's shoulders.

Ruby nodded, wiping even more tears from her cheek. "I don't know what to do," she whimpered. "I feel so pathetic."

Yang pulled her into a hug, stroking her hair with one hand and rubbing her back with the other. "You're not," Yang mumbled.

Ruby sobbed into Yang's shirt, clutching tightly at her clothes.

"I mean, there's really only one thing you can do," Yang said.

Ruby sniffled and pulled her face away from Yang's shoulder. "What?" she sniveled.

"You have to talk to him about boundaries. You said you're the first virgin he's ever been with, right?"

Drying her face with the hem of her shirt, Ruby nodded.

"Then you need to tell him that you're not ready. Like, those exact words. Make it absolutely clear," Yang instructed sternly.

"What about your first time?" Ruby asked.

"I didn't care all that much," Yang answered, "But you're different."

"I tried to just give myself a moment to consider it, but then I just started panicking and I pushed him away." Ruby felt tears well in her eyelids.

"You're gonna be okay," Yang coaxed, watching another tear roll down Ruby's raw cheeks.

"What do I do?" Ruby asked.

"Ask him to be patient." Yang reached out to squeeze Ruby's arm. "And if he refuses, you need to cut him loose."

Ruby glanced up with a fearful look in her eye. She was hoping it wouldn't come to that, but in the back of her mind, she knew that it would have to happen eventually.

"If he isn't willing to wait until you're ready, then you're going to get hurt. You need to think about yourself first."

* * *

Roman shuffled around, wondering how he could reach Ruby. He couldn't afford to text her-that would get her in trouble for being an accomplice, and if Cinder checked his phone…

Negating the possibility, Roman racked his brain for other methods of contact. Leaving was a risk. A huge one. In fact, considering it a possibility at all indicated a severe lack of proper judgement. A part of him wonders if he would be shot on sight if he were to be seen by a cop, but then again, does he really care?

Ironwood's men plague the city, and Roman is living undetected in the heart of it. If he opens up that door and for the first time in months steps outside, he creates a path for the police to be able to find him and put him down for good this time. Neo says she's worth it. And aside from eating all of the food Neo brought him this morning, all Roman has been able to do is think about ways to talk to her. He wonders if she will come to visit him, but in reality, she disappeared without a trance, and he'd be foolish to think she would come back to something she ran from in the first place.

But then again, Ruby just might be foolish enough to come back.

Optimistically, Roman threw off the stained shirt he put on to greet Neo and found something modest and appealing to wear on the chance that Ruby does decide to return. Settling on an accompanying set of clothes, he hastily puts them on and straightens the hem of a grey silk tee when he catches a glimpse of his appearance in the mirror.

Roman walks toward the mirror and wonders whether or not he is appropriately dressed for a casual meeting. The fitted black slacks he wears on the job gave him a slight pang of doubt. Would Ruby be able to recognize them and associate them with the days that he spent time conspiring against the people she cared about? Roman set aside the ridiculous notion, but he changed what he was wearing anyways to the dark beige counterpart.

With a second look in the mirror, he noticed that his roots were growing in beneath the toned-down, nearly washed out shade of brown. If he looked closely, he could see that there was approximately one month of growth. Maybe longer, given that he hadn't necessarily been eating properly since his detainment.

He realized that she might have left something behind, giving her a reason to come back. Roman scoured the sheets, scanned beneath the bed frame and even looked through the dresser and scrambled through the contents of his bathroom.

Roman paced across his apartment, unsettled and frustrated. He had nothing to do. The one book that Neo had brought over after he complained about the abundance of foreign text Roman had read in the span of one day. To occupy himself, Roman tried to think about what he would say to Ruby if she arrived. Maybe she would apologize. Maybe she wouldn't, and maybe she would expect one from Roman. Maybe he would give one, but chances are he wouldn't even be able to physically form the words.

Tousling his own hair, Roman walked out of his room and lay down on the couch. Giving the slightest glance to the door, he pondered the consequences of what crossing that threshold could bring. Remembering that even if the police were blind that Neo would personally decapitate him for leaving after all her hard work to keep him hidden in one of her apartments, Roman sighed and turned his head away. He looked up at the ceiling and waited for Ruby to arrive.


	38. A New Understanding

Having just woken up from a nap that carried him through the rest of his afternoon, Roman hazily watched the sun set in the horizon. Ruby never came, and Neo didn't respond to any of his texts. It's probably a good thing-Neo always knew when and when not to indulge craziness, and this was certainly no exception. However, now that Roman checked each moment with a delicate flair that he really only cared to carry out with because he wanted to stretch out the amount of time between him and eternal ennui.

So many books of foreign language in Neo's house, and every single one of them are in languages that Roman doesn't speak. Not that Neo actually spoke any of them, but she had a lot more to do with her time than Roman, her upbringing involving becoming a ward of the state and living in a communal house that the government kept up. But after the incident that happened with her parents, she hardly even felt that she wanted to talk anymore.

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose and pushed himself off the couch. When he thought about it, Neo had went through the most amount of cripplingly horrifying tragedies but Roman had done the most to survive for himself. That is, until he met Junior. Then, the behaviors that led him to a diagnosis of conduct disorder suffered heavy criticism from Junior, who would not tolerate even a little bit having his shit burned whenever Roman threw a fit. And there were days when Roman wondered if he would have turned out any better if his parents had been around, but those days incidentally happened to be the ones when he was too drunk to make his own decisions.

The doorbell rang, and Roman's heartstrings snapped at the sound. When he regained composure, he quickly paced to the door and peered through the peephole.

Disappointment.

Neo and Junior stood in the hall, Junior's eyes glancing around before fixing on his silhouette in the tiny glass lenses, Neo leaning against the door frame with her hands in her pockets. Roman sighed and opened the door.

Junior glanced at Roman and his eyes squinted in the shape they did when he was smiling. Roman simply rubbed his eyes and stepped to the side to allow Junior inside. Neo said nothing, only pushing her weight off the wall and following behind Junior as he entered.

"We brought dinner," Junior disclosed upon stepping past Roman.

He took in the smell of hamburgers and fries as he assessed the mascara that ended up on the fleshy part of his palm. He should probably wash it off. "Smells like fast food."

"It's from that restaurant on the corner," Junior answered.

"Ah," Roman affirmed. He didn't know what restaurant was on the corner-he wouldn't to begin with-but anything in the general vicinity of this area typically lent towards expensive food or, at the very least, good eats. Roman noticed the jitter to his arm and the irritation that came with withdrawal. "Did you get me any cigars?"

"No. Why are you dressed up?" Junior asked with an accusatory tone that suggested Roman was guilty of something. Though Roman could think of no discreditable act that he even thought of committing, especially such that corresponded with his clothes. Neo squinted at Roman's clothes and frowned.

Roman ignored Junior's question, approaching the counter and crossing his arms. "Why not?"

"You're not planning on leaving, are you?" Junior asked, crossing his own arms in response.

"Answer the question," Roman seethed.

"You need to stop. Where did you plan on going?" Junior rattled off, clearing dodging Roman's attempts to initiate a conversation about his smoking habits.

Roman's hands clenched into fists. "What the _fuck_ ," he fumed below his breath.

"Roman," Junior probed.

"Nowhere!" Roman snapped. "I didn't intend on going anywhere." He turned his back away from them and stared at the wall through his shaking fingers.

"Then why are you dressed like that?"

Roman didn't answer. Instead, Neo tapped her fingers on the countertop, probably to get his attention to sign something. Undoubtedly, _R-U-B-Y._

Junior sighed. "Roman, you need to get a grip."

"I agree. But I cannot do _shit_ right now until I get some goddamn cigars."

Footfalls indicate to Roman that Junior is coming closer to him. When his hand touches Roman's shoulder, he is quick to shove it away and move as quickly as he could to his room. He runs inside and slams the door, locking it with erratic movements. He turns to the bed and paces back and forth with his hands grabbing fistfuls of his hair. Roman collapses at the foot of the bed, his whole body shaking.

He feels tears beginning to stream down his face. Junior knocks on the door. "Roman, let me in."

Roman kicked himself for being so irrational. He knew he shouldn't have acted that way with Junior, but he couldn't help himself-he was addicted, and there's no stopping that.

Wrapping his arms around his knees, Roman sobs quietly into his lap out of frustration, damming back the waves of rage trying to subdue him. It's quiet for another two minutes.

Then a voice. "Roman?"

Roman opened his eyes and looked at the door. A voice feminine and soft. There was no mistaking it for Junior. It was most certainly the last person he wanted to see like this. His chest stopped palpitating, and he took two deep breaths.

That voice came again. Soft, gentle, kind, reassuring. "Please open the door."

Roman stood, wiping his tear-stained cheeks with the back of his hand. He met the door with small steps and reached out to touch the door handle, hesitating just above it. He fought the urge to turn away and lock himself in his bathroom, biting his lip. With another drawn breath, he inhaled and opened the door. Upon the sight of who was there, he exhaled, feeling lighter already.

_Ruby._

Her shining silver eyes softened. The slightly stern and commanding tone she used to persuade him to open up melted from her face. In two seconds, it was gone completely, and in its place was concern.

Ruby said nothing, reaching up and pulling his head into her shoulder. His body trembling, tears rolled down his cheek as he returned the embrace and pulled her closer, pressing his forehead to her uniform.


	39. Interven--Oh, Fuck My Life.

"Withdrawal?" Ruby asked, looking down at Roman's sleeping face on her stomach. Mascara stains decorated the front of her school uniform. Could it really be that bad?

"I didn't think this would happen," Junior answered, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. A chair was pulled up to the foot of Roman's bed as both of them lay on the ruffled sheets. She hadn't gotten up since Roman fell asleep on top of her.

Ruby looked up. "So Neo's going to buy cigarettes now?"

Junior nodded. "Neo told me not to get them this time around because she thinks he has a problem. If you've noticed, she enforced the same principle with the alcohol in this apartment."

Ruby pondered. She hadn't been paying particular attention to how many alcoholic beverages were available in his cabinets.

"Personally," Junior continued, "I'm worried he'll get fed up and go out and do something about it."

"And he's a wanted criminal," Ruby added softly. Her heart twisted at the thought of Roman's incarceration.

"It wouldn't be as much of a problem if I could just give him a mask and that would be the end of it, but in this neighborhood, it would draw a hell of suspicion whenever he came or left, not to mention the fact that it's illegal."

"I mean, everyone is carrying a weapon on the streets these days," Ruby contemplated. "You'd need to be able to identify people." Ruby lilted the end of her statement as if it were a suggestion, so as not to offend someone Roman cares about.

Junior looked away from Roman, meeting Ruby's eyes. He humphed in agreement and looked back down to Roman. "I'm just trying to think of a way for him to be able to leave the apartment without problems."

"How has he been doing it before?" Ruby asked.

Junior frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Like, what has he been doing this whole time?" Ruby clarified.

"He's been staying here the whole time. I'm saying I want to figure out something that allows him a little more leg room."

Ruby's expression morphed from curious to confused to shocked. "You mean he's been just... _here_ for the past two months?"

Junior nodded.

Ruby cast her eyes down at Roman's head. "Holy crap," she murmured.

"Honestly, Ruby," Junior sighed, "I think you're the only reason he's stayed sane."

Ruby scoffed at the suggestion.

"No, I'm serious," Junior affirmed. "He claims he has nothing to do here. All that Neo kept here is a bunch of books-not even a TV-but they're all in Slavic languages."

Chewing on the back of her lip, Ruby thought about her relationship with Roman. She noticed that his behavior was erratic, but she originally attributed it to his own personality when in reality being shacked up in one place for so long might have been the thing pushing him to act so strangely in the first place.

The door to the apartment opened, getting Junior's attention. He stands and quietly meets the newest guest in the other room. Upon hearing the door slam, Roman's muscles seized suddenly, and Ruby began to hear him form coherent mumbles. She lightly pressed her fingers to his head, quietly massaging his scalp while he came back to consciousness. Roman made no sudden moves as he realized where he was, lifting his head slightly off of Ruby's midsection, then closed his eyes again and returned his head back to where it was when he was sleeping.

Ruby felt Roman tapping her spine with his index finger, his arms still wrapped around her. Soon enough, Ruby figured out that he was trying to communicate with her.

"Roman, I don't know morse code." Ruby spoke as softly as she could while maintaining clarity.

Roman inhaled deeply. "I'll tell you later," he mumbled. His breathing even, Ruby could hardly believe that he completely lost his composure earlier. Ruby lay her head back on the pillow behind her and closed her eyes, falling asleep to the thought of how much he perplexed her.

* * *

Roman did not want to get up. In her arms, he was warm. Safe. The sound of Junior's brought him back to reality, and the faint smell of nicotine danced beneath his nose. Roman frowned, remembering how wrathful he was earlier. When he lifted his head from Ruby's stomach, Junior stood at his bedside, holding out a pack of cigarettes.

"I would have preferred cigars," Roman muttered, taking the pack from his hand and tearing the plastic off with his fingernails. "Can you grab me a light? I have one in the nightstand."

Junior pulled a lighter from his jacket pocket and threw it to him. Roman caught it with one hand as he pushed himself off the bed. He positioned himself on the edge and opened the pack of cigarettes.

"Maybe don't do it around her," Junior suggested, pointing a finger at Ruby, who had fallen asleep sometime during Roman's brief snap back to consciousness.

Roman merely glanced to see what he was talking about. "You're right," he muttered, standing up and sauntering into the next room, in which Neo lounged on the couch, feet elevated on the armrest, drink in her hand. Roman frowned.

"Why now do you decide to attempt to run my addiction into the ground?" He snapped. "You picked the _worst_ time to do it."

" _It would have gotten worse here. Especially since the solitude is probably driving you nuts. I hope you enjoy that pack of cigarettes because it's the last one I'm buying you."_ Neo casually took another sip of her drink.

Roman fumed. He didn't want Neo making decisions for her. "What the fuck is your problem?" He shouted. Junior's hand clapped down on his shoulder, another one fettering his bicep.

"Hey, calm down." he protested.

"What, are you in on this, too?" Roman resisted the urge to cross his arms. The last thing he wanted was to be seen as was as a child having a tantrum.

Junior unwaveringly kept his wits. He had been dealing with Roman's outbursts since he was a teenager. "I'm going to talk to Cinder tomorrow about finding you a way to leave the apartment safely."

Neo turned on the couch. " _What? Why would you let him do that?"_ Neo signed.

"It's not just about him," Junior stated plainly. "He has a job to do, and that requires him leaving the apartment to do it."

" _How else are we going to make sure his addiction doesn't get worse?"_ Neo signed angrily, standing and crossing the room to face Junior directly. Imposing despite her short height, Neo glowered at him with narrowing eyes.

"We don't." Junior let go of Roman's arms as a symbol of his trust.

Roman shot him a puzzled look. "Jesus, what changed?"

"It's Junior, and I think you're perfectly capable of managing yourself. You're a grown adult, and it's time you acted like it."

Roman rolled his eyes. "I am acting like an adult."

"Maybe that would have held true about four months ago, but you're not quite in your right mind anymore. You gotta get back on track," Junior explained. "It's okay to admit you have a problem."

Roman finally realized: this was an intervention. "Oh my fucking god," Roman groaned, walking to the other side of the room.

Junior tried to speak, but Roman cut him off. "No, stop, I don't want to hear it right now."

" _You're right,"_ Neo snarked. " _We should probably let you wash the mascara off your face first."_

Neo looked quite pleased with herself, but Roman was not amused. He pressed his fingers to his temples. "Can you guys just leave? Maybe I'll let you talk to me in the morning, but right now, I just want to get a good night's sleep."

Pursing her lips, Neo looked to Junior, who shrugged in response, signing "Why not?" Junior turned to Roman. "I love you. We'll see you in the morning." He grabbed Roman by the shoulders before he could protest into a bear hug, catching Roman off guard. He put his arms around Junior in response. When Junior broke away, he waved to Roman and walked out, Neo following behind him. He watched them walk out and close the door behind them.

For a moment, Roman enjoyed the quiet solitude before realizing with a start that Ruby was still sleeping on her bed. Well, after what just happened, he wasn't so sure that was the case anymore.


	40. Milestone

Roman leaned against the doorframe, hands in his pockets, uncertain about how to handle the situation with Ruby. He knew that she probably came over to talk about something-likely whatever she ran off about two nights ago. The edge of his own sanity was creeping up on him, and Roman wished he would have been able to give her his best self. But then again, his best self probably would have shot her twice in the head and never even regretted it. Setting his jaw, he stumbled to the bed and sat down beside Ruby.

He was about to reach down and shake her gently until she woke up, but he realized he had been smoking a cigarette for a good fifteen minutes. Knowing she would likely hate the smell, Roman stood up and walked into the kitchen. He pressed the burning end into an ashtray sitting out on the counter. His arm was shaking, but he knew nicotine jitters were always relatively ephemeral, so he decided not to wait for them to subside.

He decided to pour something heavy into a glass cup for Ruby when she woke up again. Critically destructive, the messy details of his own damn life. He wanted to keep her out of it before she was in too deep, but Roman suspected he was too late for that. He opened the door to his bedroom, drink in hand.

Ruby had stirred, facing opposite the door with a pillow underneath her delicate head. Her hair grew a couple inches since she first became a part of his life. So had his, but he didn't trust Neo within a mile of his head if he had a pair of scissors in her hand, so he had resigned to letting his hair grow longer. But Junior's right. Too long in this apartment, and Roman would fly off the handle faster than Neo could sign, " _You have a problem._ " Hell yeah he did. But it's damn time to fix it.

"Ruby," he called, standing over the bed.

She woke with a jolt. Ruby scratched her head and reached across the bed. She patted down the duvet, but she was unsatisfied. She lifted her head and scanned the sheets, but nothing was there. She turned to look at the other side. Ruby's weary eyes met Roman's focused ones. He felt in control, and she was barely returning to consciousness. Something was fundamentally unfair about this predicament, and for the first time, he didn't feel like that was an advantage to be sought after.

"How long was I asleep?" She murmured.

"Not long," Roman responded, swirling the drink in his hand. On second thought, maybe Roman would be better off with it, given what he was about to do next. "It's late." He paused, biting his lip and letting it slide from his teeth as he thought. "You should probably go home."

Ruby looked confused. "I came over here to talk to you and explain," she began to protest groggily.

Roman avoided her eyes, dumbly honest yet simultaneously entrancing. He could be so easily persuaded into letting her stay, but he can't be so cruel as to start denying her respect. If he started down that path, he would never be able to stop himself. He scrunched his eyes shut. "I know, but I'm not exactly in the right mindset to listen."

As she righted herself on the bed, Ruby rubbed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You see the makeup on my face, don't you?" His sardonic tone, a little unfair given she's hardly conscious, suddenly made it very clear to Ruby what he was talking about.

"Oh." Ruby played with the hem of her shirt. "Can I come back tomorrow?"

Roman's jaw closed very tightly, then released. "Yeah." He chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Come back tomorrow. Do you have school?"

"I have classes until noon," Ruby answered, back straightening.

"Three o'clock," he decided. "I'll try to get some food."

Ruby furrowed her brows. She looked hesitant to leave.

Throwing her legs over the side, she slid off the bed and rearranged the hair around her face. She walked up to him, seemingly preparing herself to stand on her toes and kiss him. And he was right-Ruby hardly seemed to give much of a second thought to it, perhaps due to routine, but she hesitated when Roman's hand came down on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Please don't," he strained.

Ruby's eyes, innocently distraught, focused on his chest. She looked like she wanted to cry, but she closed her eyes and wouldn't let him see. Ruby let the heels of her feet come back down to the floor, and Roman removed his hand from her shoulder.

"Good night," he whispered.

"Yeah." Ruby's voice cracked. She didn't look him again as she left the room and walked out the door.

* * *

Tears rolled gracelessly down her cheeks as she waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor. Ruby bounced on her feet as she thought about what Roman said to her. _There could be several reasons why he would say that_ , she thought, _none of them involving you_. But she could hardly convince herself, and as the doors to the elevators opened, she rapidly wiped the tears away from her cheeks with the heels of her palms.

The gilded doors opened to the shining, pearl white lobby. Black accents like artwork and perhaps ridiculously overpriced furniture scattered masterfully across the space. Everyone fit in. Fast paces, stylish-chic outfits, poignant and stern faces. Except one person didn't fit the mold. Her body casually strewn across the sofa, she casually held a book in her hand, another tangled in a blonde mop of hair.

Ruby's heart jumped into her throat. _Yang._

Why was she here?

Ruby walked as quickly as she could through the lobby, but she would never be able to blend in with the rest of the crowd that breezed through.

"Ruby!" Yang bellowed. Her voice carried in the open plot, the vaulting ceilings.

Ruby stopped cold. Her limbs froze. Everyone turned around and looked at her and her sister with affected surprise and disgust. Despite their apparent interest in the show, Ruby could feel their repulsion. As if walking through her wasn't bad enough. Now she'd never be able to wear her uniform here.

"Who did you come here to visit?" Yang snapped. Not even the slightest twinge of amusement could Ruby detect in her face.

"Yang." Ruby tried to defuse her, but she hardly allowed her the chance.

"I checked out the store you told me your boyfriend worked in," Yang declared.

Ruby pinched her eyes shut. _Shit._

"So he had no idea who you were! I was surprised, I thought you would have at least told me, your own sister, the truth."

" _Yang._ " Ruby asserted. Yang continued, defiant and unflappable.

"And I followed you here. Like, _jesus_ , who the fuck is she seeing? For a second, I thought to myself, 'Maybe she's dating some rich kid and she was embarrassed,' but why? Why wouldn't you have told me. And then I realized-"

"Yang," Ruby snapped.

"-you had to be dating someone, like, _way_ older for you not to have told me-"

"Yang!" Ruby blurted. Her voice raised to a shout so shrill that Yang shut her mouth. "Not here," she hissed.

"What's his name, Ruby?"

She suddenly felt dizzy. Yang would keep harassing her until she got a name. She can't just blurt it out in the middle of a hallway-more for him than her.

"I can't," Ruby breathed, casting her eyes to her feet as she thought of a way out.

"I want to hear his name." Yang crossed her arms.

Ruby looked up with the anger and distress muddying her thoughts crystal clear in the way she looked at her sister. "Fine," she decided. Ruby grabbed her by her hoodie and pulled her out the front door of the lobby, doing her best to ignore the petrifying stares icing them over.

She pushed the door open with a shaking hand splayed on the spotless glass. Ruby walked out onto the sidewalk, letting the masses surround them and drown out every possibility of someone overhearing them.

When she released her grip on Yang's hoodie, Ruby turned around to face her sister, who waited for an answer to her question. Ruby opened her mouth, but the words stopped short at the roof. Ruby bounced on the balls of her feet and looked up to the sky, trying to mull the consequences over in her head, but not a single thought formed.

"Well?" Yang asked expectantly.

To hell with it. Ruby set her jaw and marched up to her sister. On her toes, she put her face next to hers and mustered the courage to say the words she had been trying to hide for weeks. And when she finally said them, Ruby heard her sister gasp in her ear.

"Roman Torchwick."


	41. Regret Is Not a Six-Letter Word.

"Ruby," Yang said slowly, "Please tell me that was a fucking joke."

Ruby rolled back on her feet. Yang's eyes were blown wide. She didn't flinch.

"Please tell me you're just fucking with me to get back at me for public humiliation," Yang droned. When Ruby didn't respond, she grabbed fistfulls of her hair and let her jaw drop as she turned to look back up at the apartment building.

In a moment, she turned back to Ruby, mouth spilling with incoherent expletives. The first words Ruby could understand were, "Holy _fuck_ , Ruby!"

Ruby shuffled. Yes, now the consequences were manifesting in her mind.

"Statutory _rape_ with a world-famous criminal!" Yang exclaimed. Ruby's head whirled in search of people whose attentions were caught by that statement. No one.

"Whoa," Ruby interrupted. "He hasn't laid a-it hasn't gone that far." She held her hands out as if she were a criminal herself, begging not to be shot.

"Ruby, what the fuck? Do you really think he gives half a shit about you?" Yang shouted. Ruby winced at how loud she was getting, but she didn't think anyone could actually hear.

Ruby wanted to defend herself, to say that yes, she did, but she knew that there was no convincing Yang on this subject. Ruby shifted, putting her hands in her jacket pocket.

"Does he know how old you are?" Yang sighed with the resonance of resignation in her voice.

"Yes," Ruby answered diligently.

Yang groaned. "Fucking hell."

Ruby bit her pursed lips in anticipation of what she would say next.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Yang continued. "How old is he?"

"Twenty-one." Ruby pulled her hands out of her jacket and crossed her arms.

Yang shook her head. "We can't do this here. This is at least an hour-long conversation that needs to happen in private, not in the middle of the street with hundreds of passers-by just waiting to eavesdrop on a newspaper headline."

"It wouldn't make the news," Ruby protested.

Yang shook stray hairs out of her face as she zipped up her jacket. "I can picture it: Roman Torchwick, notorious thief working with the White Fang, rapes aspiring young student granted early admission to Beacon Academy."

Ruby rolled her eyes at Yang, who looked at her with an expressive, "Do you get it now?" look on her face. "Okay, I see your point," Ruby admitted. "Can we go home now?"

"We're talking about this when we get back. And you need to decide whether or not you're telling your teammates about this." Yang started ambling down the street without checking to see if Ruby was following her. The stress was apparent in the way she carried herself, the way she looked relieved when she took her eyes off her sister.

Ruby sighed, and followed her down the street to the subway.

* * *

The subway car slid down the bumpy railway, Yang and Ruby holding onto the bars that reached from the bottom of the car to the top. Ruby remained seated; Yang stood over her, still deciding whether she was angry, disappointed, or both.

Ruby kept her head down in a show of modesty, but the feeling of disgust slowly crept on her as she wondered what Yang might have been thinking.

The car being empty except for them, Yang began to ask her the questions she wanted to ask earlier. "Can you at least explain to me how this started?"

Ruby twiddled her thumbs in her lamp. "That night at the club. He was injured so badly that he went unconscious. Neo was the only one there, and she practically begged me for help to carry him out the back entrance.

"Back entrance? I thought there was only one," Yang asked, confusion contorting her facial expression.

Ruby nodded. "I kind of just felt guilty from there, and when she texted me again, I came to help."

"That's why you got out of the building so late," Yang pondered. "And _that's_ why Neo texted you. But how does that spawn romantic feelings?"

Her first thought went to the way he could just walk around the house shirtless, no qualms, no inhibitions. Especially when all he wanted was to get rid of her. Ruby blushed. "Uh," she stuttered. "I saw him a lot more than I had previously implied."

"Well no frickin' duh," Yang laughed sardonically. She still wasn't smiling at her. Or really looking at her, to be entirely honest.

Ruby closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, listing her head towards the floor of the car. "I trust him," Ruby declared.

Yang groaned. Those were clearly not the right words to say. "I would hope so if you're going over to his house so often."

Ruby's head sank lower. "He's just...so sweet."

Yang covered her eyes. "He's a sociopath."

"That doesn't explain why he's been such a gentlemen," Ruby reasoned.

"Ruby, stop," Yang muttered.

"He practically kicked me out just to-"

"Stop, I don't want to hear it," Yang snapped.

Ruby looked up. Yang had placed both of her hands over her ears. She was right-there was no convincing her.

"Just give me time to think," Yang pleaded.

They both remained silent the whole way back to Beacon Academy.


	42. Red Tide

Yang spoke for the first time in an hour. "I need to know for sure," Yang whispered, hand easing off the handle of the door to their dorm. She turned to face Ruby, and Ruby could immediately discern the disconcerted emotions in the dimly lit edges of her face. "The man you're seeing is who you told me in the streets an hour ago?"

Ruby nodded. "Yes, it's him."

Yang drew a shaky breath. "I need time to process this-figure out what I need to do."

"What does that mean?" Ruby felt something tear in her heart at the thought of Roman being given up to the police.

Stretching her jaw, Yang let her head fall back. A moment later she looked back to Ruby. "I love you, and this isn't going to change that. Just remember that."

"Yang, I-" Ruby reached out towards her sister.

She held her hands up. "I'm not saying I'm gonna go turn him in. It just means that when push comes to shove, I'm going to protect you first."

"It's not going to come to that," she defended.

Yang scoffed. "Yes it is."

* * *

Yang watched the bottom of the bed above her as if it would give her an answer to what she should do about Ruby's relationship with... _Torchwick_. She still couldn't believe it. Even after yesterday when Ruby told her right to her face, she still couldn't get over how repulsed she felt when she imagined Torchwick with Ruby. Yang didn't want to picture her sister as sexually involved with someone who attempted to kill her. Twice.

Looking right at his face, only inches away from him, Yang would probably be able to keep her cool. And then kick the shit out of him. But the idea of him being even closer to her sister made Yang want to throw up, so much so that she decided to pull the trash bin to the edge of her bed just in case the image of something truly repulsive came to mind.

She rolled on her side, facing the wall, and tried to make sense of Ruby's actions. The strange thing is that Ruby may be naive, but she's not stupid. And if she were to have gotten in a relationship with someone who has actively taken steps in an attempt to murder her, then there must be _some_ reason aside from masochistic tendencies that she would even consider him in that light.

Ruby trusts him.

Ruby chose to look beyond the things Torchwick has done in the past. Ruby forgave him. Yang bit the tip of her thumb. If a girl can find it in herself to forgive the man who physically hurt her, then perhaps her sister could, too.

But first, she needed to see for herself.


	43. Bazaar's Medicine

Ruby popped another potato chip in her mouth as she waited in the elevator. With no music playing in the elevator, she had time to think for the first time since she had left this exact same spot. Roman's original intention may have been for her to clear her mind, but she felt like she was coming back just to add more crap to the pile. Especially because Yang was standing right beside her, waiting to meet him herself.

If Ruby had a choice, Yang wouldn't have come with. But when she threatened to tell the rest of the team, Ruby gave in. Hopefully he wouldn't be too mad.

* * *

Two knocks at the door. Junior stood, stretched his arms over his head, and shuffled to go open the door for Ruby. Roman glanced at the watch on his wrist. 2:55 PM. _Excellent timing, Red._ When Roman told Junior that he was essentially inviting Ruby over to his apartment to have the _talk,_ Junior suggested that it might be a good idea for him to mediate it-less to protect or help Roman, but rather to keep him from saying the wrong things.

Roman agreed. And under Junior's painful instruction, he has remained sober all day.

The door opens, and Junior immediately curses. "Oh, fuck."

Roman furrows his brows and twists over the couch to see what was so exciting. _Oh fuck no,_ he thought.

_Blondie._

* * *

Awkwardly shuffling in, Ruby noticed that Roman grew tense immediately upon the sight of her sister. Appalled, he turned to Ruby. "What the _fuck_?" he shouted vehemently.

"Calm down!" Junior boomed. The stern look on his face suggested to Ruby that something similar to last night was happening.

Yang ignored them both, stomping directly up to Roman and peering up at him through narrowed eyes. "How old are you?"

"What? Twenty-one," Roman recited, caught off guard.

Yang continued her interrogation. "What's her birthday?"

Roman's eye twitched. "What's yours?"

Yang steamed and crossed her arms. "You're not doing a great job of convincing me that you give a damn about my sister."

Rolling his eyes, Roman shifted his weight onto the other foot and sighed, "You're gonna need to grow a couple of inches if you want to intimidate me."

"What the fuck would you know about growing inches?" Yang spat.

Junior contained fits of laughter behind his fist as Roman's face fell and contorted into outraged conviction. Absolutely certain that she was blushing, Ruby raised a hand to cover her gaping mouth.

Roman chose to say nothing in response to Yang, instead turning to Ruby. "Can you explain why exactly your sister seemingly knows where I live and that I am affiliated with you?"

Ruby winced at "affiliated."

"So, uh," Ruby said, speaking in undertone, "She _might_ have followed me here last night."

Not even a twitch of his eyebrow. "Why?" he seethed.

Ruby stuttered. All she could think about was how Yang would likely react to this situation when in reality, this was the first time he has ever been this angry with her. The only things that came to her were breaths cut off in quick succession as she attempted to form the vowels to an unknown word. Ruby could feel Roman's temper shortening, his patience thinning, his glare intensifying.

"Recently I discovered something," Roman drawled, making a clear effort not to raise his voice. "Ironwood wants me dead. So he talked to his C.O.s, and as it turns out, they want me dead, too."

Ruby winced, replacing the hand she removed earlier over her mouth. Tears brimmed just at the edge of her eyelids as she began to understand what he was saying. _If Roman Torchwick goes back to jail, Ironwood will have him executed._

Yang closed her mouth.

* * *

He saw tears beginning to stream down Ruby's glowingly red cheeks, and he almost felt bad about doing it, but even if just one person reports him to the police, he dies. Simple as that. If Blondie had decided to take his address to the police, Roman was sure that he wouldn't be standing here right now.

The cold draft put a chill in his body. He stepped around Ruby's sister.

"Junior, can you close the door?" Roman hardly felt in control of his own body.

Junior nodded and pushed the door to the apartment shut, latching the chain in the wall. Roman watched Ruby's tears of shock transform into sobs that made her knees weak. _Guilt_ , he thought. He never really felt much of it, but as he slid his arms around Ruby's shaking body, he couldn't help but feel as if he shouldn't have told her. If he hates responsibility so much, why did he have to pass it all on to her?

Quietly raking his fingers over her back, Roman closed his eyes, lowering his head, and splayed his fingers over her scalp. She clung tightly to his shirt until she regained composure.


	44. A New Light

Ruby finally let go of Roman's shirt and pulled her face away from his chest. She sniffled as she spoke in his ear. "May I use your bed?"

"Of course," he whispered.

Ruby pulled her arms back to herself and stumbled over to his room. Yang's eyes trail her until she walks into the room and lazily pushes the door shut.

Yang's eyes immediately flash back to Roman. "How dare you," Yang growled.

Roman felt a coldness wrapping around his sternum.. And even when Yang directed undeniably at him her burning eyes, flashing with flames, hair threatening to combust, his mind told him that she was not looking at him but someone behind him instead. The harrowing tension that stretched from his neck to his chest to his stomach pulled him from reality and drew his consciousness in on itself, and Roman found himself unable to respond.

"She is _just_ trying to help you, you bastard," Yang shouted. "Do you realize how much she cares about you?" Yang thrust her chest forward, clenched fists staggered behind her torso as if an invisible person were holding her back.

"Yes," Roman said. The cord in his body wound tighter. He looked to the door and considered apologizing to her. But an apology out of his mouth would sound like he was just learning English for the first time, broken and ultimately meaningless. He stepped toward the door.

"Haven't you done enough?" Yang accused him with the tone of an adult questioning a child's judgment.

It was a rhetorical question, but Roman answered. "No."

And he stepped into his room and wrapped his arms around Ruby's small, warm body and pulled her head to his collarbone as he fell onto the bed next to her. Roman exhaled and let the broken feeling dissipate, Ruby's cheeks sticky and warm against his neck.

* * *

Yang stood speechless, staring at Roman with an incredulity that translated, "Wrong answer." She closed her mouth, letting her eyes fall shut. For a moment she dug her nails into her palms and took deep breaths until she felt calm enough to make a responsible decision.

Junior crossed the room and closed the door to Roman's bedroom. Quietly sliding the door into place, he turned to Yang. "You know, we didn't always approve of their relationship."

"Oh, really? I thought you were team _Roby_ all the way."

"Roby?" Junior popped the arch of his eyebrow.

"Or Ruman, whatever the fuck you guys are calling it in your head."

Neo signed something.

Yang narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"She says she calls it, 'irresponsible and reckless,'" Junior said. "Do you want something to drink? You look very tense?"

Yang nearly spat out, "Hell no." but she stopped herself before the words hit her teeth. Yang pushed her fingers into her hairline. "Fine. Nothing heavy."

Junior nodded turning to the cabinet. "I know this isn't what you want to hear right now, but he really does care about her."

Yang sighed and tried to think of a sentence that wasn't inherently invocative. "Yes, she keeps telling me that. But there's not a _single_ piece of proof."

Junior prepared to say something in return, but Yang continued. "She ran into a firefight to save his life. I know she cares about his life. She would have saved anyone's life in that situation if she knew she could, even if it were...well, case in point!" She gestured to the closed door.

"When she told me that she saved his life, that was exactly what I thought, 'Ruby's Ruby, and she would have done that for anyone. She doesn't think anyone deserves to die. The rest of Team RWBY would have hesitated at first, even if they did choose to save him in the end, but she wouldn't even give it a second thought. And that's admirable,' but I had no idea that Ruby would develop _feelings_ for him," Yang swung her hand through the air, a sweeping gesture at all the other possibilities she could have dreamed up. "I'm sorry if I'm disgusted by the idea of my sister making out with a guy who has tried to kill her on two separate occasions."

Junior held a drink out to Yang, which she accepted with a grunt. "Believe me, Blondie, I understand," he chuckled.

"My name is Yang."

"And you call me Junior. But either way, I was thrown off by the idea of Roman having a relationship with the fifteen-year-old girl trying to throw him back into prison, but over time, I started to see that he was taking this one seriously."

"Seriously," Yang scoffed. "Sure. How is she different to him than any other girl that he's ever been in a 'relationship' with?" Yang gestured with air quotes.

"They've been in a relationship for almost a month." Junior stated. Neo nodded in affirmation, though Junior had no need for it.

"Yeah, so?"

"They haven't broken up, Roman has not stolen any of her belongings, we _know_ enough about the relationship to make that claim, and as far as I know, they have not gone anywhere past first base."

"How is any of that saying anything about him?"

"We only know about his relationships after they've ended, and sometimes not even then. The longest he's ever been in an actual relationship is six days, but after that, he get fed up with her, stole her car, and never spoke to her again. Or at least that's what he told me-I don't know all the details. And that's the only time his sex life has ever become anything more than just that. If Roman were only in it for the sex, he wouldn't have bothered with someone like Ruby."

"What does that mean?" She seethed.

"Inexperienced, romantic, and I assume virgin?" Junior tipped his glass in query.

Yang crossed her arms. Neo signed something in response. Junior's expression blanched, and he turned to his drink.

"What did she say?"

Junior shook his head.

"Tell me!" Yang threw her fists down.

Junior sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She said that if he really was just in it for the sex, he would have gotten it and dumped her already."

Yang stared at Neo appalled. She shrugged, nonchalant. "Are you suggesting he would rape my sister?"

"No, that's not what we're suggesting. Neo, you bitch," he grunted. "He wouldn't do that to her."

"What makes you so sure?" Yang shouted. It suddenly occurred to her that they could hear everything she was saying.

Junior groaned. "Our bosses came here a couple days ago without any warning. Ruby was here, and Roman had to go hide her in the closet. If they found her, they would have killed him. Right there." Junior pointed to the table by the wall of plexiglass. "And us, too, for that matter."

Neo signed something with a meaning look in her eyes.

"She doesn't care about her, but Roman does, so she's going to protect her for him. And so am I," Junior affirmed.

"Now, I hope you don't go selling us out to the police because whether they figure it out or our bosses do, Roman will die."

Yang sat down, looking at the untouched drink in her hands. She shook her head, followed by a swig of her drink.

* * *

Roman touched Ruby's hair. He listened to everything, but Ruby went out like a light. Perfect way to keep Ruby from the gruesome truth about his past. But he was tired, and he wanted to stop thinking about his problems, so he pulled the covers over the both of them and fell asleep.


	45. Personal Confession

Yang held a glass of water in her hand as she watched Neo sleeping on the grey couches. A pile of folded blankets lay at her feet on a side table, but she neglected to pick one up before falling on the couch and passing out as soon as her head hit the cushion. She slept peacefully with one leg tossed over the edge of the couch. Neo's breathing filled her lungs so thoroughly that Yang could watch the movement, a reflection of the kitchen light off her boots.

To occupy herself for the last few hours, Yang attempted to learn as much as she could through his belongings and his way of life. In the cabinet she found at least forty different bottles of liquor (Yang did not bother to count them all). Most of the brands she recognized, but some of them were obscure choices that Yang had never seen before. Each of the bottles shared one common trait: each of them were opened, none full, none empty. Yang speculated the possible interpretations, but the open-ended nature of her investigation discouraged further thought. She managed to learn one thing: Torchwick is a god damn alcoholic.

She looked around the room at the carefully selected pieces of furniture. A glass top table, a two-piece set of leather couches, and a dining set between the living room and the door. They were stylish choices, and no doubt that when someone picked these out, they paid careful attention to the floor plan, the lighting, the color scheme, and the overall layout. But when she looked around the room, all she saw was dark brown, a cream color, and white, and not a single detail was out of place. The apartment did not look like something lived in; it was just something that outsiders could look into and that would provide some semblance of a regular life.

When she asked, Junior informed Yang that there was no TV, no computer, and no landline in the apartment.

 _Why not?_ She had asked.

 _We never really intended for someone to live here_ , Junior responded. _And either way, we wouldn't want to get on the map._

 _Wouldn't it be strange if no reported electronics were in a residence?_ Yang questioned.

_It could just mean whoever lives here is looking for privacy. It's not unheard of. Even some of the dead-media TVs have cameras on them, which can be disturbing for some people. But activity on a device with an anonymous source code immediately raises a red flag, so we don't plug anything in here. Heck, we bring Roman some of those power blocks so he doesn't have to plug his scroll into the wall to charge it._

_Is it really that bad?_

_Well, yeah,_ Junior scoffed. _Ironwood wants him dead. We have to go pretty far to keep that from happening._

Yang fidgeted. She wanted to comment, but she decided not to.

 _You think it's wrong, don't you?_ Junior drawled.

Yang set her jaw, not saying anything.

Junior sighed. _The law isn't always right._ Junior rubbed his chin, stubbles of hair bristling against his fingertips. _Roman deserves a lot of things, but not death. He has hurt a lot of people, but despite popular belief, he isn't a sociopath._

Yang whirled her head around. _You're kidding._

Junior waved his hand in the air to suggest the futility in convincing her otherwise. _I know you think it's absolutely false that he could be anything else, but he's not a sociopath. He cares about other people-he cares about Ruby. He experienced a psychological break in prison. He won't say anything about it, but I know it happened. Three months in solitary confinement with hardly enough to keep him alive-I'm surprised he came back in one piece. But he's been acting differently. He's even quicker to anger, less disciplined, and thoughtless about the long-term consequences of his actions. Did you notice how he lost thirty pounds?_

Yang opened her mouth to protest, but she held her tongue and reconsidered what she was about to say. She isn't a medical professional, and she has no proof to falsify Junior's claims-not to mention that he hardly has any reason to lie to her.

_I would talk to him about his mental health, but he would just shut me down and keep on moving. But it's hard to talk to someone about their problems without it turning into an intervention._

_Isn't talking to someone about their problems just an intervention?_

_No,_ Junior chuckled. _An intervention is a group assault on the person dealing with real problems where they tell the poor sucker all about how their illness, addiction, mid-life crisis, or whatever is a problem in their lives. Invented by sensitive people with a hero complex._

 _So what would be a_ non- _intervention?_

_Well, that's offering up something constructive. Give them an outside perspective on their situation, show them the objective consequences of their behavior without giving your opinion on them, and tell them how they can get help for their situation. Properly done, never once does one's own feelings come into play._

_So why would Torchwick give you hell for doing that stuff? Wouldn't it be nothing but helpful?_

_Well, yeah. But to accept help is to admit that he has a problem in the first place. He's never been good at swallowing his pride. And either way, what would we do? Every therapist in Vale is a mandated reporter, so if they see him, they have to say something to the police, or they could go to jail for up to ten years._

_Ten years?_

_Yep. Second-to-the-top shelf of all of the felonies you can commit in this wonderful kingdom. For keeping your mouth shut._

_Can't you do at least something for him? Get a self-help book?_

Junior bellowed. _He'd sooner throw it out the window._

 _What about-Ruby._ Yang's eyes flickered with the spark of realization.

Junior nodded. _One of the reasons we aren't turning her in as an accomplice to a wanted criminal._

Yang's eyed flashed with rage, the same kind of rage she displayed when Neo suggested Roman would rape her sister. Yang's blood boiled under her skin.

Junior threw his hands up. _Whoa, what'd I do?_ He waved his arms in front of his face. _Just a joke._

 _You two have poor taste in humor,_ she spat.

 _Oh,_ Junior buzzed. _I can tell you right now that she did not mean that he would rape her._

_What would you know?_

_She was just exaggerating how much his actions spoke for how he felt about her. She did_ not _mean that he would sexaully assault her. I don't know if I can be any clearer._

Yang exhaled forcefully though her nose, punctuating her reaction with a large gulp of water. She saw the blankets folded neatly on the end table, cream, white, and brown. Not a detail out of place. The couches themselves looked brand new, and from what she understood, they had been here for years. And when she had looked around the room after Junior spoke the last words he would say to her that night, that was when she noticed the careful mix of color, coordinating shapes and textures.

Reflecting back on her conversation with Junior, Yang realized one thing: Torchwick was living out of his bedroom, eating barely enough with little contact with the outside world. In a way, he was still in prison. Except he wasn't fighting maximum-security prison for control; he was fighting himself.

Ruby was the one thing standing between him and self-destruction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All caught up with FF.net publication to date! Thanks again to the person who helped me out in the comments section :)


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